[at-l] Fw: Soft Tissue is Rough on Forests

Wed Mar 11 15:55:18 CDT 2009

curious:

incidence/prevalence infectious diseases vs incidence/prevalence wiping
practices ?

anybody have these stats?

all's I know is the discipline of epidemiology got started from asking such
questions and I would suspect there's a public health consequence to the
wiping practices prevalent in any given area . . . down to the size of
the local restaurant and bar . . .

Articles that ignore public health consequences in this arena do not tell
the complete story, imho . . .

jest say'n . . .

On 3/11/09, rcli4 at comcast.net <rcli4 at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Whole foods 365.  It is the best of the bad.  Better than that, wash cloth,
> water from a cistern, with biodgradeable soap. Probably more info than you
> wanted
>
> Clyde
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Jan Lite
>
> To: at-l , rcli4 at comcast.net
>
> Sent: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:18:18 +0000 (UTC)
>
> Subject: Fw: Soft Tissue is Rough on Forests
>
>
>
> Here ya go Clyde, tree crusader... From the things I didn't know Dep't.:
> If this year everyone bought ONE roll of TP made from recyled paper (NOT the
> same as recycled TP), it would save 400,000 trees.
>
> Didn't say what the stats would be for using leaves...
> ;-)
>
> Here's a guide to brands:
> http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp
>
> Then there is this NYTimes article:
>
>
>
>
>
> Mr. Whipple Left It Out: Soft Is Rough on Forests
>
>
>
>
>
> *by*:
>
> Leslie Kaufman
>
>
>
> 26 February  2009
>
>
>
>
>
> Americans like their toilet tissue soft: exotic confections that are
> silken, thick and hot-air-fluffed.
>
>
>
>
>
> The national obsession with soft paper has driven the growth of brands
>
> like Cottonelle Ultra, Quilted Northern Ultra and Charmin Ultra — which
>
> in 2008 alone increased its sales by 40 percent in some markets,
>
> according to Information Resources, Inc., a marketing research firm.
>
>
>
>
>
> But fluffiness comes at a price: millions of trees harvested in North
>
> America and in Latin American countries, including some percentage of
>
> trees from rare old-growth forests in Canada. 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."
>
>
>
>
>
> 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.
>
>
>
>
>
> 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.
>
> Most manufacturers use a combination of trees to make their products.
>
> According to RISI, an independent market analysis firm in Bedford,
>
> Mass., the pulp from one eucalyptus tree, a commonly used tree,
>
> produces as many as 1,000 rolls of toilet tissue. Americans use an
>
> average of 23.6 rolls per capita a year.
>
>
>
>
>
> Other countries are far less picky about toilet tissue. In many
>
> European nations, a rough sheet of paper is deemed sufficient. Other
>
> countries are also more willing to use toilet tissue made in part or
>
> exclusively from recycled paper.
>
>
>
>
>
> In Europe and Latin America, products with recycled content make up
>
> about on average 20 percent of the at-home market, according to experts
>
> at the Kimberly Clark Corporation.
>
>
>
>
>
> Environmental groups say that the percentage is even higher and that
>
> they want to nurture similar acceptance here. Through public events and
>
> guides to the recycled content of tissue brands, they 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.
>
>
>
>
>
> Environmentalists are focusing on tissue products for reasons besides
>
> the loss of trees. Turning a tree to paper requires more water than
>
> turning paper back into fiber, and many brands that use tree pulp use
>
> polluting chlorine-based bleach for greater whiteness. In addition,
>
> tissue made from recycled paper produces less waste tonnage — almost
>
> equaling its weight — that would otherwise go to a landfill.
>
>
>
>
>
> Still, trees and tree quality remain a contentious issue. Although
>
> brands differ, 25 percent to 50 percent of the pulp used to make toilet
>
> paper in this country comes from tree farms in South America and the
>
> United States. The rest, environmental groups say, comes mostly from
>
> old, second-growth forests that serve as important absorbers of carbon
>
> dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas linked to global warming. In
>
> addition, some of the pulp comes from the last virgin North American
>
> forests, which are an irreplaceable habitat for a variety of endangered
>
> species, environmental groups say.
>
>
>
>
>
> Greenpeace, the international conservation organization, contends that
>
> Kimberly Clark, the maker of two popular brands, Cottonelle and Scott,
>
> has gotten as much as 22 percent of its pulp from producers who cut
>
> trees in Canadian boreal forests where some trees are 200 years old.
>
>
>
>
>
> But Dave Dickson, a spokesman for Kimberly Clark, said that only 14
>
> percent of the wood pulp used by the company came from the boreal
>
> forest and that the company contracted only with suppliers who used
>
> "certified sustainable forestry practices."
>
>
>
>
>
> Lisa Jester, a spokeswoman for Procter & Gamble, the maker of
>
> Charmin, points out that the Forest Products Association of Canada says
>
> that no more than 0.5 percent of its forest is harvested annually.
>
> Still, even the manufacturers concede that the main reason they have
>
> not switched to recycled material is that those fibers tend to be
>
> shorter than fibers from standing trees. Long fibers can be laid out
>
> and fluffed to make softer tissue.
>
>
>
>
>
> Jerry Baker, vice president of product and technology research for
>
> Kimberly Clark, said the company was not philosophically opposed to
>
> recycled products and used them for the "away from home" market, which
>
> includes restaurants, offices and schools.
>
>
>
>
>
> But people who buy toilet tissue for their homes — even those who
>
> identify themselves as concerned about the environment — are resistant
>
> to toilet tissue made from recycled paper.
>
>
>
>
>
> With a global recession, however, that may be changing. In the past few
>
> months, sales of premium toilet paper have plunged 7 percent
>
> nationally, said Ali Dibadj, a senior stock analyst with Sanford C.
>
> Bernstein & Company, a financial management firm, providing an
>
> opening for makers of recycled products.
>
>
>
>
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
> Mr. Spring said Marcal would be able to price the new tissue below most
>
> conventional brands, in part because of the lower cost of recycled
>
> material.
>
>
>
>
>
> "Our idea is that you don't have to spend extra money to save the
>
> Earth," he said. "And people want to know what happens to the paper
>
> they recycle. This will give them closure."
>
>
> --
> "The Ordinary Adventurer"
> A new backpacking adventure book
> http://www.FunFreedom.com <http://www.funfreedom.com/>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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