How to Shop Smart, Save Forests and Send a Message

View image You know that feeling when you walk into the paper product aisle at the market and you’re overwhelmed with choice? Being a green consumer, you naturally want to make a green choice, but how? And, maybe more importantly, why? Need help? Well, viola! Greenpeace has released its Recycled Tissue and Toilet Paper Guide, a credit card-sized shopping guide to help consumers find the greenest household paper products. In our guide, Greenpeace gives thumbs up to brands Green Forest, Natural Value and Seventh Generation, while recommending that shoppers avoid products like Kleenex, Cottonelle, Charmin, and Angel Soft. Why? Greenpeace makes our recommendation for products that meet three important environmental benchmarks: – they are made from 100 percent overall recycled content; – they are made with a minimum of 50 percent post-consumer recycled content; – and they are not bleached with chlorine or toxic chlorine compounds. Green Forest is an example of a responsible company making tissue products. All Green Forest products are made from 100 percent recycled paper, are whitened without chlorine, and are produced from a minimum of 90 percent post-consumer recycled paper. If they can do it, every tissue-producing company should be able to do the same. One company that we say can do much better is Kimberly-Clark, the largest tissue product company in the world with net sales in 2007 of over $18 billion dollars. Despite their huge market share, Kimberly-Clark has not used its influence to show the industry how to be greener. Greenpeace gave an “Avoid” rating to Kimberly-Clark’s household paper product brands Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, and Viva. Check out the full Greenpeace Recycled Tissue and Toilet Paper here. More on sustainable tissues: Kleenex Kleercut — Trees for Tissues? A Person Can Develop a Bad, Bad Cold