Movement pushes for environmentally-safe toilet paper

NEW YORK — Environmentalists are now taking on the toilet paper industry and pushing for paper made from recycled materials, the New York Times reported.

The Feb. 25 story said millions of trees are harvested in North America and Latin American countries to make the paper which can also waste water and require the use of polluting chlorine-based bleach.

The environmental group Greenpeace has issued a national guide which lists and rates toilet tissue brands. Spokespeople for Georgia Pacific and Procter & Gamble were interviewed for the article, defending their company's alleged negative environmental impact.


James Malone, a spokesman for Georgia Pacific, which makes Quilted Northern, said in the story that customers “demand soft and comfortable. Recycled fiber cannot do it.”


Lisa Jester, a spokeswoman for Procter & Gamble which makes Charmin, said they have not switched to recycled material because recycled fibers are shorter than those that come from "standing trees" and longer fibers can be fluffed to make for softer tissue paper.


However, Tim Spring, the cheif executive of Marcal, the nation's oldest recycled-paper maker, said the company will be introducing a new toilet tissue this April, around Earth Day, and will spend around $30 million on a national ad campaign regarding the tissue's environmental friendliness. Spring said in the story, “Our idea is that you don’t have to spend extra money to save the Earth. And people want to know what happens to the paper they recycle. This will give them closure."