For my first post I thought I would tackle a very important green issue... toilet paper. I hadn't really given my choice of toilet paper a lot of thought. While my husband had suggested a few times in the grocery aisle that we try the recycled products, I always picked up the Charmin and went about my business.
Then I read an article online in the Guardian newspaper by Suzanne Goldberg that compared Americans love of ultra soft, triple-ply toilet paper to driving a Hummer. Not only did it make me laugh out loud, but it made me think about the high cost of having that "ultra soft" toilet paper experience. According to Greenpeace, 98% of toilet paper in America comes from virgin wood while in Europe and Latin America only 60% comes from virgin wood. Virgin wood fibers are easier to fluff up and provide a softer tissue than recycled paper. Greenpeace even has a recycled tissue and toilet paper index to provide you with all the information needed to make a green toilet paper purchase! You can find it here.
At what cost do you need your triple-ply double roll ultra soft tissue? I think even Mr. Whipple might agree that it is time to grab the one-ply recycled paper roll. Will the ultra plush toilet paper be the ruin of our environment? Probably not, but if we all make small changes in our lifestyles, we can make big impacts on the environment. Take it from me, I've managed to adjust.
An added bonus I discovered while traveling in Europe recently was that I didn't have that difficult adjustment to the scratchy Eurpoean toilet paper. It felt just like home.
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