Tissue products: Flushing the ancient Boreal forest down the toilet

Many tissue products such as toilet paper, facial tissue, paper towels and napkins are produced from Boreal trees. Greenpeace estimates that about 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of tissue products are consumed in Canada each year. Many more thousands of tonnes of tissue pulp are shipped to the United States and overseas.

Greenpeace believes that it is simply wrong that disposable products are being produced out of ancient forests. The Boreal forest is literally being flushed down the toilet every day by millions of consumers across Canada. This needs to stop.

That is why Greenpeace has launched the Kleercut campaign to convince Kimberly-Clark, the makers of Kleenex and a major destroyer of Canada's Boreal forest, to clean up its practices.

Many eco-friendly alternatives to tissue products made from ancient forests are available today. Tissue products made from 100 per cent recycled paper already exist. These are of equal quality and price and can be bought at most major grocery, health food, and corner stores.

Greenpeace is working with tissue product companies to move them in a positive direction. We are asking that tissue companies eliminate ancient and endangered forest fibres from their tissue products. One way they can do this is by increasing the recycled fibre content of the products or by using fibre that comes from sustainable sources such as those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

The top six companies producing tissue products in Canada are: Kruger, Cascades, Procter & Gamble, Irving, Atlantic Packaging, and Kimberly-Clark.

To find out more, use the Shopper's Guide to Ancient Forest Friendly Tissue Products.