Shop Smart, Save Forests

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, or whatever you and your family celebrate! Sorry for the lack of posts this past week...it was a bit crazy.

In this season of runny noses, perhaps some additional thought about the environmental impact of home tissue products is warranted. Click here to review an online Shopper's Guide to Home Tissue Products from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

DID YOU KNOW that if every household in the US replaced just:

• one box virgin fiber facial tissues (175 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 163,000 trees.
• one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees
• one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees
• one package of virgin fiber napkins (250 count) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 1 million trees.

The NRDC guide has detailed ratings for many of the top brands of home tissue products, so that we can make more informed choices.

And, even better than using recycled paper products is to use reusable ones! While there isn't a palatable option (for me at least) for toilet paper, in our house, we have taken to using plain washcloths instead of paper napkins and paper towels. (When we had babies, we just seemed to have a couple stacks of plain washcloths always at the ready...and we now use washcloths instead of paper napkins and paper towels for everyday messes!) We use ones from IKEA, but I'm sure that there are lots of inexpensive options out there.

Three tips from the NRDC to help save forests

1. Buy paper products with recycled content -- especially post-consumer fibers. Look for products that have a high recycled content, including high post-consumer content. Post-consumer fibers are recovered from paper that was previously used by consumers and would otherwise have been dumped into a landfill or an incinerator.

2. Buy paper products made with clean, safe processes. Paper products are bleached to make them whiter and brighter, but chlorine used in many bleaching processes contributes to the formation of harmful chemicals that wind up in our air and water and are highly toxic to people and fish. Look for products labeled totally chlorine-free (TCF) or processed chlorine-free (PCF). In some cases, elemental chlorine-free (ECF) may be acceptable.

3. Tell tissue manufacturers to stop using virgin wood for throwaway products. If a brand you buy for your home doesn't have any recycled content, contact the manufacturer. Tell the company to use more recycled fibers, to avoid sourcing from ecologically valuable forests such as those in the Cumberland Plateau and Canadian boreal, and to ensure any virgin fibers used are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Saving forests also helps reduce global warming pollution.