the tissue issue

I used to think they were always made from recycled paper. Partly because I wished they were as I had been using them like there was no tomorrow.

But the truth is, because of consumer demands for the softest products, it’s virgin fibres that mostly goes into loo rolls, facial tissues, kitchen towels, and table napkins. And after you’ve used them, they cannot go into the recycling bin (they’re considered hygienic wastes and can cause contamination). I know I had a bias for the soft, thick, really white ones.

Here’s a lowdown on the available statistics:

• 270,000 trees are flushed down the toilet or end up as garbage every single day according to the WWF.
• Every Briton flushes 17.6 kilos (39lb) of toilet paper down the lavatory every year, almost two and half times the European average, based on this article from the Telegraph.
• The European average use is 11 kilos of tissue per year.
• Each person in Britain uses 4,000 rolls of toilet paper in their lifetime.

And whether they all add up, the truth is we are using quite a lot. What to do? Tissue has been one of the most important products for personal hygiene. It’s hygienic, it’s convenient. I don’t think any modern household can completely do away with it. I’m certainly sure, I can’t go without it at the moment.

Of course, reducing my use is one way to go. I can take it seriously and follow Sheryl Crow’s advice of using “only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required”. But . . . hmmm . . . i’m imagining really messy hands. Maybe I won’t go as far as counting the squares just yet. But there are still plenty I could do:

• after I’ve finished up the remaining pack of table napkins, switch to linen ones. sure, I had to wash them, which would cost the environment as well, but I am pretty sure they will go in with my weekly washing load. And linen table napkins just feel so decadent, doesn’t it?
• I don’t keep facial tissues at home. I’ve always been used to cloth hankies. Again, they go in the weekly wash. Downside? Just yesterday in the train, i was sitting across a woman who accidentally sprayed herself wet as she opened her sparkling water bottle, I reached in my bag and realised I only got my (used) cloth hanky at hand, and I certainly can’t offer her that.
• use rags more often around the home instead of kitchen towels. Rags are washable and can be reused over and over again. Though I would still keep a couple of rolls in the cupboard for emergencies, but hopefully they will last me for the rest of the year.

And then, there’s the loo rolls. WWF recommends we buy ones made from sustainable material, with high recycled content, and the not so white ones (as the bright white ones would have been bleached). WWF did a report ranking as to which among the major toilet paper manufacturers are most responsible. SCA (makers of Velvet) have ranked first in these charts. But note that they scored a mere 46% last 2005 in these rankings, quite a low score, I thought.

A recent trip to the groceries had me picking up a pack with the WWF logo stamped on it. On closer inspection at home, I didn’t find anything in the label that even claimed what percentage is recycled or where the materials were sourced from. Is the WWF allowing use of their logo to greenwash consumers now?

So, I set out to list what I should be looking for in the labels in loo rolls from now on:

• amount of recycled content.
• FSC certification to say product is from well managed sources. Not all recycled content are sourced responsibly.
• unbleached, chlorine free. I had always been concerned about my health. And the less chemicals in products we have intimate contact with is surely better.

I was setting my heart on buying 100% recycled ones (dramatic choice of words, i know, but it is still shopping isn’t it?). But I had my second thoughts. Recycled paper does have it worries too. This article says “one German study in 1993 (that’s how far back we had to go to find data) suggested that there can be 10 to 100 times more toxic metal residues in recycled paper than in that made from virgin pulp.”

I’m now thinking, maybe paper isn’t the way to go. Organic cotton loo rolls anyone? I’ll let you know as soon as my first pack arrives in the post.