Soft Tissue Paper is Hard on the Environment

Do you want to make a big environmental impact fast? Changing your behavior on tissue paper use is a very simple and immediate way. In the United States we use about 50 pounds of tissue products per person every year. This is 50% more than the consumption rate in Western Europe and Japan, and usage has grown considerably over the past few decades. We just can’t seem to get enough tissue. About two-thirds of tissue paper use is at home and one-third is away from home, so the majority of tissue purchasing and use is within your control.

Some things about the tissue paper market are disturbing and just don’t make sense to me.

• Almost all of the heavily advertised tissue products available at your local store are made from trees, rather than recycled paper.
• According to These Come from Trees, one tree produces about 100 pounds of paper. A household of four will consume 2 TREES every year when using non-recycled products.
• We have a lot of recycle paper looking for a second use.
• Paper can only be recycled a few times, so a perfect “final use” for recycled paper is tissue paper products.

Why not use only recycled paper for tissue products? The reason according to major manufacturers is that Americans want extremely soft tissue, and the fiber taken from live trees give tissue that plush feel. Recycled paper has slightly rougher feel. In other countries the use of recycled paper for tissue is much higher than in the U.S. We sacrifice our forests for soft tissue. There is a very interesting NY Times article reviewing our “national obsession with soft paper”. Check it out.

Let’s take a look at paper in general
If you browse the environmental blogs you find many strong opinions about paper. Statements like “household paper use is more harmful to the environment than driving a Hummer.” Well, there are good reasons for these kinds of statements. According to Natural Resources Defense Council “the paper and pulp industry may contribute to more global and local environmental problems than any industry in the world.” Here is a quick summary of some of the issues:

Paper manufacturing is environmentally harsh:

• It uses a lot of timber destroying wildlife habitat.
• It’s a major generator of water and air pollution including dioxins and other cancer-causing chemicals.
• The industry is the third largest industrial emitter of global warming gasses.

Transportation to the consumer consumes fuel:

• Paper and pulp mills are typically far away from the major population centers.
• Paper is heavy and consumes energy and creates air pollution for transportation.

Disposal is an environmental challenge:

• According to the EPA about one-third of all household waste is paper.
• Only about one-half of this is recycled, and much of our recycled paper is shipped to China and other Asian countries for reuse, rather than being used in the U.S.

Tissue Paper Products
It clearly makes sense to minimize our use of paper overall. Tissue paper products are a great place to start. Our strategy is to REDUCE and USE RECYCLED. Tissue is an easy area to significantly limit use and then to buy only recycled products for the remaining use.

How do we use tissue paper?
Our usage of tissue falls mainly into four categories; toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissue and napkins. The chart at the left shows the breakdown of use in North America. With some simple behavior changes we can significantly reduce usage for paper towels, napkins and facial tissue. For remaining use, buying tissue products made from 100% recycled paper will help further. Together these will actually make a big environmental impact.

What if we used eco-friendly tissue paper habits?
By changing to eco-friendly habits we can reduce our tissue usage to Western Europe and Japan levels. That means cutting use from 50 pounds to 33 pounds per person each year. If you also bought only 100% recycled products for the remaining use, a household of four people will save the environment:

• About 1½ live trees per year.
• Cut water and energy used in manufacturing by more than half.
• Eliminate the toxic dioxin used for pulp bleaching.
• Reduce local sewer tissue waste and landfill waste.

We have put together a guide outlining simple ways to reduce use in each product category. It is a summary of our experiences in reducing tissue paper use.

Our experience – it was easy!
We started with napkins and paper towels. We had a stack of cloth napkins that sat in the cabinet for years. When our supply of paper table napkins ran out, my wife converted over to cloth. This has worked out great for us. We keep the napkins folded on our placemats on the kitchen table and they will last a day or two before washing. It hasn’t created any incremental batches of laundry.

I had a bad habit was grabbing a stack of napkins when I went to a fast food restaurant. I’d always have a stack in the car glove box that was overflowing until I threw some away. Now I limit myself to one or two, and surprisingly this adds up.

Paper towels were another bad habit. Every time that I washed my hands I’d dry with a paper towel. While cooking I’d go through a half dozen towels. Now I just use the dishtowel. In public restrooms I use the hand dryer when available.

We’ve started buying 100% recycled toilet paper and paper towels. I personally haven’t noticed a major difference. Sure the premium commercial brands are soft but from a utility standpoint they both do the job well.

Daisy’s insatiable appetite for tissue paper – Naughty Dog!
We adopted Daisy, a young bloodhound, a few years ago. She's a sweet loving dog with a strong streak of mischief. One of her numerous “weaknesses” is shredding and eating tissue paper. It all started with the stack of paper napkins that we’d leave in the napkin holder on the kitchen table. Occasionally we came home to find the remains of the entire stack, in a corner, in tiny little pieces. If one of the kids left a napkin on their placemat, she'd quietly sneak over and slip it off of the table, and off to the corner she would go. Paper towels left on the counter found the same fate.

Soon afterward the raids on our downstairs bathroom began. Daisy would manage to get the end of the toilet paper and unroll most of the roll. Of course she’d gnaw the side of what was left on the spool to destroy the entire roll. A dog gate solved the problem, as long as the kids don’t leave it open. Her final trick was “counter surfing” for the box of Kleenex that sat at the far back of the counter. Daisy would stand up on her back legs and quietly grab the box. Then off to her favorite corner for some fun!

Our new eco-friendly habits for tissue use have changed this. While Daisy hasn’t mentioned it to us, I don’t think she likes our move to cloth napkins, dishtowels and handkerchiefs, not to mention the dog gate that protects the bathroom. She is not interested in chewing the cloth products. Now she goes to her dog toy box and selects a favorite squeaky toy to munch on. Not quite as appetizing as tissue, but her “girlish figure” has returned!

Why use only 100% recycled tissue paper products?

• It provides a second use for recycle paper materials.

• Paper fibers can only be recycled a few times so tissue is a good final use.
• Recycled paper uses 50% less water in manufacturing.
• Recycled paper uses 40% less energy in manufacturing.
• The United States Environmental Protection Agency‎ (EPA) has found that recycling causes 35% less water pollution and 74% less air pollution.
• Recycled paper does not need re-bleaching; NO toxic dioxin and chlorines.

With all of this evidence, it’s clear that using non-recycled tissue paper is a terrible waste of our natural resources and the environment.

But what about the cost?
We all have this impression that recycled tissue paper products are way more expensive than regular products. I did a very quick price comparison of recycled verses non-recycled products to see what the cost difference really is.

• At Trader Joe’s you can buy a 3-pack of 100% recycled paper towels (2 ply 147 sheets per roll, 11 in. x 6 in.) for $3.99.
• At Safeway.com the Brawny - Softer and Thicker 3-pack (2ply 118 sheets per roll, 11 in. x 6 in.) is $4.99.
• Trader Joe’s 12-pack of 100% recycled bath tissue (2 ply 250 sheets per roll) is $3.99.
• Safeway.com’s has Charmin Ultra Big Roll Bathroom Tissue - 12 Roll (2ply 200 sheets per roll) is $6.99.

From this quick analysis it appears that the cost difference is minimal, if any. Shopping around can easily minimize this, or even save you money. You can also purchase large bulk quantities of 100% recycled tissue on amazon.com for even less. Check them out on the Simple Ecology Store.

The case for using 100% recycled tissue paper is building and awareness of this issue is becoming widespread. Greenpeace recently published a handy pocket guide for recycled tissue and toilet paper. You can carry it when you purchase products. Below is a summarized list of brands from the Greenpeace guide.

Tissue brands to use: (80%+ recycled paper content)

Green Forest, Seventh Generation, 365 (Whole Foods), Natural Value, Earth Friendly, Trader Joe’s

Tissue brands to avoid: (Little to NO recycled paper content)

Charmin, Kleenex, Kleenex Naturals, Scott, Scott Naturals, Quilted Northern,Vanity Fair, Puffs, Bounty, Brawny, Target, Kirkland, Wal-Mart, CVS, Rite Aid

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Comments

[Charlene Rex]

Wow - VERY informative! I thought our household of two was doing a pretty good job on this subject (using cloth napkins and cloth dish towels for years, with minumal use of paper towels), but this article has inspired me to do more; I never gave the toilet tissue and hand tissues much thought, but now I will. Thanks! (We shouldn't forget that the empty tubes from the toilet tissue and paper towels can be recycled, and can also be used for a variety of handy tasks around the house-- holding rolled up extention cords, is one example).
Note: An interesting topic for a future article would be creative and pratical ways to reuse all the other kinds of paper in our homes (like envelopes, greeting cards, unwanted copies made on our printers, magazines, etc.). I'm sure everyone would have some great input on that!)

[LC]

After trying both brands pictured in the article I'd like to share my experiences. The Seventh Generation paper towels were very tough to tear-off of the roll without loosing a huge chunk of the corner. They also had a stiff feeling, but they got the job done. The Trader Joe's recycled paper towels are much softer and easier to tear off. PLUS I love the select a size option of getting a 6" small sheet when that's all you need...less waste!

[Ian dykes]

How be we simply replace bath tissue consumption with an equally convenient, superior hygienic and wholly sustainable alternative such that tress can mature to absorb carbon and replenish oxygen. We must do this eventually because population growth, increased life expectancy and aspirations of emerging economies only increase deforestation and non-recyclable forestry utility

[Sustainable waste management]

Thanks for sharing the 100% recycling tissue paper Recycled paper does not need re-bleaching; NO toxic dioxin and chlorine.

[Recycling organic waste]

I think it is efficient if the people of western country use the water in the place of tissue paper.

[cheap conservatories]

Wow, I better go for those recycled paper tissues then. I didn't know I was contributing to the destruction of the environment.

[solar energy]

Even if recycled paper is a bit more expensive, I'll use it to help with the environment.