Sometimes the smallest things can make a big difference. Take toilet paper for example. Simply switching from the plushy kind to toilet paper made from 100% recycled paper products is one of the simplest eco-friendly changes you can make. You’ll help save trees, reduce dangerous environmental dioxins and save millions of litres of water.
End-to-end (so to speak) the environmental impact of such a simple change is remarkable. When compared to standard toilet paper (which is made from virgin wood fibre) , brands made with 100% recycled content take 44% less energy to produce, cause 38% fewer greenhouse gas emissions and 41% fewer particulate emissions, produce 50% less wastewater and use 100% less wood.
Switching toilet paper is hardly a lifestyle change. Eco-friendly toilet paper costs about the same, or less, is stocked on the same shelf in the grocery store and serves exactly the same purpose.
When you scan the grocery store shelves for something new here’s what to look for:
How much recycled content it contains: 6,000,000 trees are cut each year to make toilet paper for Canadians. The more people switch to brands using 100% recycled content, the fewer trees will be cut. The more post-consumer content the better since it diverts paper from the landfill.
How the paper was bleached: Look for products that aren’t bleached using chlorine, which can create the toxic byproduct dioxin.
Fortunately there are lots of earth-friendly options to choose from in our local stores:
PC Green toilet paper (Super Store) is made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper and it’s made without the use of chlorine (although some of the recycled paper in the product was likely bleached with chlorine).
Compliments Green (Sobey’s) is also made with 100% recycled content, most of which is post-consumer. It’s whitened without chlorine and is EcoLogo certified.
White Swan has a line that is also EcoLogo certified and made with 100% recycled content (containing up to 80% post-consumer waste).
Cashmere has a line that is EcoLogo certified and made with 100% recycled content.
Majesta has a line called Soft & Green which is whitened without chlorine but still uses virgin wood fibre. The wood is sustainably sourced but with so many 100% recycled content options I rank this lower on the list.
While you’re at it, use the same check list for other disposable paper products that you buy, like facial tissue or paper towel. Many of the brands listed above offer similar paper towel options but in my search only White Swan has facial tissues too.
As always it’s good to read labels so you’re not duped by eco-sounding names. Don’t forget to recycle the toilet paper roll and other packaging.
In our house we use toilet paper in lieu of facial tissue and rags instead of paper towel. But if you’re not ready to give up these creature comforts at least know that there are more eco-friendly options available.
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