The New York Times reports this morning that,
… The country’s soft-tissue habit — call it the Charmin effect — has not escaped the notice of environmentalists, who are increasingly making toilet tissue manufacturers the targets of campaigns. Greenpeace on Monday for the first time issued a national guide for American consumers that rates toilet tissue brands on their environmental soundness. With the recession pushing the price for recycled paper down and Americans showing more willingness to repurpose everything from clothing to tires, environmental groups want more people to switch to recycled toilet tissue.
“No forest of any kind should be used to make toilet paper,” said Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist and waste expert with the Natural Resource Defense Council…
Environmental groups… are hoping that Americans will become as conscious of the environmental effects of their toilet tissue use as they are about light bulbs or other products.
Dr. Hershkowitz is pushing the high-profile groups he consults with, including Major League Baseball, to use only recycled toilet tissue. At the Academy Awards ceremony last Sunday, the gowns were designer originals but the toilet tissue at the Kodak Theater’s restrooms was 100 percent recycled…
Marcal, the oldest recycled-paper maker in the country, emerged from bankruptcy under new management last year with a plan to spend $30 million on what is says will be the first national campaign to advertise a toilet tissue’s environmental friendliness. Marcal’s new chief executive, Tim Spring, said the company had seen intense interest in the new product from chains like Walgreens. The company will introduce the new toilet tissue in April, around Earth Day…
“Our idea is that you don’t have to spend extra money to save the Earth,” [Mr. Spring] said. “And people want to know what happens to the paper they recycle. This will give them closure.”
“Closure” about toilet paper?
Obviously, a pilot run is needed for this idea. Here is a modest proposal using byproducts of the ethanol industry:
Principle – Reuse, retask, recycle, refuse
Participants – Mandated Greenpeace membership, led by Dr. Allen Hershkowitz
Feedstock – corncobs
Result – Back to the future
These fools would be amusing if the end result of their foolishness would not be so hurtful.
There are ‘farmers’ that grow trees for this purpose; softwood, fast growing trees are grown just to make paper. Leave them alone. Nobody cuts down mixed forest to make toilet paper, those woods are providing lumber, not pulpwood.
Just like the previous post on composting, the people that write this crud don’t have much of a clue beyond the city limits!
In many towns, citizens put out recycle bins, including unwanted newspapers. This paper is converted into new products made from recycled paper rather than new trees. So TP made out of recycled paper is widely available via supermarkets.
Yeah, but do you really think its recycled TP?
There are grocery stores that stock toilet paper made from recycled paper. A market exists to serve customer demand.