Please Don’t Squeeze the Forests :: Environmental and Health Concerns

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Please Don’t Squeeze the Forests
by author Stuart Harries

Canada’s ancient boreal forests are being cut down to make toilet paper, facial tissue, paper towel, and other disposable paper products. Question is: should a 10,000-year-old ecosystem be wiped out so that North Americans can wipe their noses? For the environmental activist organization Greenpeace, the answer is a resounding no.

To help change shopping habits and lessen the squeeze on the planet’s forests, Greenpeace has recently issued a downloadable guide explaining which brands are good and which brands are bad for the Earth and its remaining forests.

Ultimately, the numbers are simple. If every household in North America replaced just one roll of virgin fibre toilet paper (500 sheets) with a 100 percent recycled roll, it could save 466,290 trees.

Replacing just one box of virgin fibre facial tissues (175 sheets) with 100 percent recycled ones could save an additional 179,300 trees.

To make certain you’re saving the forests and buying Greenpeace approved paper products, visit the organization online and download its Tissue Guide in pocketbook format—keep it with you as a quick reminder when shopping for paper products. greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/ forests/tissueguide

Source: alive #322. August 2009

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