Soft toilet paper rought on forests

We buy only recycled toilet paper and tissues for eco reasons and because they generally do not use added chlorine to produce them. I'm still wondering why they bother to bleach TP (and tampons) for that matter at all.

Of course, in this recession, the big drawback is that it's a lot more expensive. But think of it as an investment in your future. You can also try to buy in bulk at places like Amazon.com...

From StopGlobalWarming.Org:
---------------------------------
03/10/09


SOFT IS ROUGH ON FORESTS
America has an obsession with ultra-soft toilet paper, but as a recent New York Times article pointed out, that fluffiness comes at a high environmental price -- the destruction of millions of trees in North America, including rare old-growth forests in Canada.

But it's more than just the loss of forests: "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."

No forest should be used to make toilet paper. There is another choice -- post consumer recycled tissue products. Greenpeace and the NRDC provide guides to the environmental soundness of tissue brands. Check them out.

FACT: Americans could save more than 400,000 trees if each family bought a roll of recycled toilet paper - just once.