Dan Bernstein, a columnist with the Inland Empire’s Press Enterprise, wrote a humorous piece about America’s preference for fluffy toilet paper AKA “Fluffy”.
But fluffiness comes at a price: millions of trees harvested in North America and in Latin American countries. Although toilet tissue can be made at similar cost from recycled material, it is the fiber taken from standing trees that help give it that plush feel, and most large manufacturers rely on them.
Customers “demand soft and comfortable,” said James Malone, a spokesman for Georgia-Pacific, the maker of Quilted Northern. “Recycled fiber cannot do it.”
In the United States, which is the largest market worldwide for toilet paper, tissue from 100 percent recycled fibers makes up less than 2 percent of sales for at-home use among conventional and premium brands.
Now, I have used recycled toilet paper–it not that bad. And it is not recycled recycled toilet paper.
Toilet tissue made from recycled paper is made from both colored and white stock, with staples and pins removed. The paper goes into a huge vat called a pulper that combines it with hot water and detergents to turn it into a liquid slurry. The recycled pulp then goes through a series of screens and rinses to remove paper coatings and inks. The pulp is whitened somewhat and sanitized with oxygen-based products like peroxide. It then goes through steps 7 through 10 like virgin paper products, producing a cheaper, less-white paper.
Consider saving the forests of the world for future generations and give the up the 3 seconds of comfort fluffy gives us.
I had never heard of “recycled” Toilet Paper, but I am glad that I am aware of it now. I think it is a small, and simple way to help save our beautiful trees! Thank you for the Blog!