American taste for soft toilet roll 'worse than driving Hummers'

[DesertRat]

The tenderness of the delicate American buttock is causing more environmental devastation than the country's love of gas-guzzling cars, fast food or McMansions, according to green campaigners. At fault, they say, is the US public's insistence on extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply products when they use the bathroom.

"This is a product that we use for less than three seconds and the ecological consequences of manufacturing it from trees is enormous," said Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defence Council.

"Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age. Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution." Making toilet paper has a significant impact because of chemicals used in pulp manufacture and cutting down forests.

(snip)

Those brands, which put quilting and pockets of air between several layers of paper, are especially damaging to the environment.
Paper manufacturers such as Kimberly-Clark have identified luxury brands such as three-ply tissues or tissues infused with hand lotion as the fastest-growing market share in a highly competitive industry. Its latest television advertisements show a woman caressing tissue infused with hand lotion.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/26/toilet-roll-america

[Kittycat]

1. I'm going to have to give up Northern, aren't I?

:(

[DesertRat]

5. Sounds like it.

:(

[Lost in CT]

DUPE

[Lost in CT]

23. No you will not Greenpeace is not being honest with you. nt

[crikkett]

2. hey i thought it was made from cotton n/t

[Xipe Totec]

3. Well, wipe my ass and call me spoiled n/t

[Kerrytravelers]

7. LOL!

:rofl:

[bluestateguy]

4. I would urge these people NOT to go there

You can tell people not to drive a Hummer (and I agree), but messing with the way people wipe their asses will not go over well.

Leave it alone.

[paulsby]

17. i agree

this may sound anal (lol), but when i go on trips, like to sports meets or whatnot, i bring a roll of my own. toilet paper in institutional bathrooms is like a box of chocolate. you never know what you will get.

also, does anybody know why they use (according to the article) virgin growth wood/trees? is there any reason why trees can't be farmed for toilet paper?

also, is this a good argument to help the cause of hemp production?

Hempwipe(tm). Get yer ass clean and baked!

(i realize hemp doesn't have THC but work with me, people)

[Quantess]

28. I assume trees ARE farmed for toilet paper.

Virgin trees are just trees, correct me if I'm wrong. I assume they use fast growing trees such as Poplar or Aspen.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Old Growth are trees that nobody dare even think about using as toilet paper, because there are already logging restrictions on them, and wildlife depend on them for their habitats.

I think it's an excellent argument for hemp production. There is no valid reason for the stupid hemp ban in this country, I agree. It is equivalent to banning Americans from visiting Cuba.

Maybe TP would also a good use for the woody part of sugar cane, too.

(edit to add Poplar)

[Deja Q]

6. Oi? I buy generic brand 1-ply non-quilted anything. I try not to throw my money down the toilet.

Well, not on TP anyway.

[amandabeech]

33. You're a guy, right? Just like the guy in the article.

If you had female plumbing you'd be asking for velvet over down.

[LiberalEsto]

8. Back to corn cobs and Sears catalogs

Do they still make Sears catalogs?

[DesertRat]

12. Corn cobs?

:hurts:

[carlyhippy]

20. LOL LOL LOL

:rofl:

[Quantess]

9. Who "tastes" their toilet paper?

And what do they use in Britain? Used brown paper bags?

[DesertRat]

15. From the article

"More than 98% of the toilet roll sold in America comes from virgin forests, said Hershkowitz. In Europe and Latin America, up to 40% of toilet paper comes from recycled products."

[Lost in CT]

22. And greenpeace is lying... The forests are replanted not virgin.

Honestly Greenpeace should be ashamed of this whole campaign...

I hate liars.

(esp when it is so obvious and easy to check)

[nebenaube]

25. There is a toilet paper plant in our town and I assure you it's recycled... n/t

[LiberalEsto]

38. Stiff upper lips? nt

[Kerrytravelers]

10. "The tenderness of the delicate American buttock" really makes us look stupid.

Spoiled and stupid.

We buy the recycled paper TP. It's a little big rougher, but you get use to it.

[paulsby]

18. plus

you get a tuff man sized ass bagel!

[Reterr]

42. Yup-recycled here too (Seventh Generation)

It is a bit more expensive but well worth it for these reasons imo.

[CLANG]

11. If it only takes Allen Hershkowitz 3 seconds to wipe his ass

I wouldn't want to do his laundry, that's for sure...

[DesertRat]

16. Let's hope he has a bidet...

[Retrograde]

39. which just moves the problem elsewhere

if everyone used bidets we'd hear screaming about wasted water.

My solution? Gradually reduce the world-wide population by educating more women and making reliable birth control readily and cheaply available. As long as we have nearly 7 billion people generating waste we're going to have a big environmental impact no matter what we do.

BTW, I buy whatever Costco has in big packs. It seems to be single-ply, non-lotioned.

[DesertRat]

40. I buy the Costco brand too. n/t

[GoCubsGo]

13. Sorry, but I can't afford a bidet...

I buy what's on sale AND I for which I have a coupon, or the Publix recycled paper tissues--whichever is cheapest. It's never the quilted/lotion stuff. Not that I would buy ass wipes with lotion in them. Why??? I will, however, buy Kleenex/Puffs with lotion if and only if I have a cold. They don't tear your nose up as badly as the regular tissues. Fortunately, except for the past year, I rarely get colds.

[Montauk6]

14. Not to get TOO graphic butt, I MEAN BUT...

Soft toilet paper, IMHO, is so overrated. It's like picking peanut butter out of a shag carpet and THERE GOES THE MANICURE!

[AlCzervik]

19. I recycle, i drive a small car, i hardly ever turn the heat on, no you cannot have my Charmin Blue

no you can't.

[XemaSab]

21. Note well that the person saying we should give up the soft tissue is a man

If he had to wipe with the scratchy, thin stuff five times a day, he'd understand why soft, thick TP is good.

[AZBlue]

44. I'm a woman and I haven't bought non-green TP for over a year and a half.

It's actually quite usable and gets a bad rap - pretty soft stuff!

[Reterr]

45. Same here.eom

[MadBadger]

24. There is nothing that will get me to buy the crappy toilet paper in public restrooms

NOTHING I Tell Ya! NOOOOTTTTHHHINNNGGG!!!

[Dr. Strange]

26. This precisely why I wipe my buttockular region with cheese sandwiches.

No fancy tp for my family.

[mykpart]

27. I hope everyone at Greenpeace gets hemorrhoids!

Then we'll see how they like scratchy toilet paper!

[BlooInBloo]

29. I suppose they want people to stop breathing as well, to combat CO2 production?

Get the fuck out.

[originalpckelly]

30. Then green peace can send a volunteer to wipe my ass with one ply.

[BreweryYardRat]

31. Not happening.

Using one-ply un-quilted is like wiping with sandpaper, and it takes forever to get yourself clean.

[petronius]

32. This may be TMI, but when I backpack I do the water/fingers method,

and it's actually a lot better. Toilet paper is a kinda lame approach...

[Maat]

34. I'm proud to say that I use that Natural Value product ...

and it's wonderful.

It's plenty soft. I'm a fifty-year-old ol' lady, and I approve of it.

Just my humble two cents. I get it from the local natural/organic-foods market. It costs slightly more, but it's worth it.

[Lost in CT]

35. But is it really better for the enviroment? I mean trees are a crop. nt

[Maat]

36. Yes, it is better for the environment.

Much greater uses can be found for that land than growing fodder for toilet paper for me.

For example, it could be a rich forest, proceeding through the natural forest cycle, or it could be several homes for homeless people, with abundant trees planted.

[DesertRat]

37. Thanks, that's good to know. n/t

[LWolf]

41. I haven't used "soft" paper

in my adult life. I've always used single-ply. It's easier on my septic system, it lasts longer, it's cheaper.

I haven't found any specifically made from recycled paper in my local area, but I'll look harder.

[bertman]

43. I bought that Green Forest recycled TP but my wife won't use it. Says they should name

it Tree Bark.

Good lord, there's enough paper thrown in the dump in this country every day to meet the crappy needs of us Americans and our soft heinies. Recycle it. Mandatory. No lack of demand for that stuff until we have a famine.

The other option is to strategically place a copy of one of those "Left Behind" series books on the tank of every commode in America and use it one page at a time. If an individual is ambidexterous it can be used for Right Behind as well as Left.