Toilet paper is one of those things we generally can’t ‘live’ without. We all buy it and I’m sure those of us who choose to buy a recycled toilet/tissue paper have often happily purchased Nouvelle. Safe in the knowledge that you are doing your bit.

Afterall it has a Woodland Trust badge on it and everything – it must be OK? Surely…

Well, sadly the reality is far more murky. Nouvelle is produced by Georgia Pacific and according to the WWF Report on how companies source fibres for tissue paper they don’t fair so well. For example “Land rights conflicts, forest destruction, irresponsible plantations management and illegal harvesting of timber are key issues associated with many of these forest regions”.

To learn more about the specifics of the tissue industry reports go to the WWF website, the information there is much more in-depth than I want to go into in this post and makes for an enlightening read.

But there is more to this story.

Georgia Pacific is owned by Koch industries and those of you out there that already know Koch industries will understand why this information might lead you to change brands. Surprisingly a lot of consumers have probably never heard of Koch even though they are the largest privately owned company in the world – no, really.

Dig a little deeper.

As ever, the Internet is your friend and you can find out a lot of information on your own – here are a couple of interesting links – both of which are from the U.S Department of Justice:

Koch Industries Indicted For Environmental Crimes At Refinery

Koch Industries To Pay Record Fine For Oil Spills In Six States

Wow! and we are just getting warmed up, these guys have been busy for sure. I don’t think I need to go much further – you get what I’m getting at.

The alternatives.
Getting back to toilet paper then, there are alternatives that do come from managed sources. According to the WWF report, looking for the FSC logo on packaging will help as this is the only standard they recognise as assurance that “If virgin fibres are used they need to come from forests managed to the highest environmental and social standards”.

SCA Tissue produce the Naturalle brand in the UK which is 100% recycled and available to UK consumers.

More information on recycled brands here.

Hopefully the WWF will have a new report soon and we will see if anything has changed in the world of tissue and toilet paper. As we effectively flush or trash 270,000 trees per day this is no place for toilet humour.

As it’s my first post here I thought I’d head straight into a rant. Why not?

I’m a bit advocate of doing little things in your life to become green. I have done bigger things like giving up the car, but small things like using recycled toilet paper etc is all well and good. However there are some things that I can’t work out whether the change I’m making is really doing that much good. Can trying to be green actually be worse for the planet?

For example, if I download a film rather than buying one I’ve saved the production of the disc, the packaging, the delivery etc. But then what about the eight hours I’ve had the computer on downloading it and watching it? Then I might burn it to disc anyway. Is the energy used downloading it less than making it? What if everyone did it, the national grid can hardly cope with people putting on the kettle in the break in Coronation Street, nevermind on the day of release for the latest blockbuster.

At work we recycle paper. But the oversized bins that we put the paper in are made from plastic and so are the recycling sacks inside them. And on top of our normal refuse collection, someone comes in a diesel van and picks up all the paper and card.

And what about a wind-up radio? It saves on batteries/electricity but it’s made out of plastic.

And then there’s the other way round. My flat is damp so occasionally I forget about the environment as a whole and think about my localised environment and put the dehumidifier on. That’s bad right? But the water it collects waters the plants so is that okay to use it? I’m using electricity but saving water.

I originally had a point but it’s become lost a bit, and I think that’s what I’m talking about – people can become confused about what to do for the best. But sites like this one, Life Goggles which I write for and the other editor’s sites (see right) can help you muddle through.

So, how do we help the environment without to think that we will lose some of our comfort and doing it without headaches?

Simple!

ENERGY/WATER SAVINGS:

Turn off any light you do not use.

Turn off all stand buy machines that you do not use at night (TV, computers for example).

Use rechargeable batteries (you WILL save a lot of money at the end).

Use fluorescent light-bulbs everywhere you can in your house.

Cook things a few items at the same time: use the steam alone too, when boiling food and put the cover on after having turned the gas/electrics of the cooker off.

Save water by taking more showers than baths. Wash full loads of washing up and laundry (with cold rinse at least for the latter).

FUEL SAVINGS:

Do NOT race off in your car when you are stopped at a traffic light and it turns from a red light to green. Just ease off.

Close all windows when you are on a motorway.

Do a few errands in one go, instead of a few trips a day.

Use the bus, tube even train each time you can.

Walk whenever you can (and that is good for your heart to).

ITEMS/MONEY/TIME SAVINGS:

Buy “as new”: each time you can. A car is a car. Second hands can be quite cheaper and reliable.

For books, audio visual items, apparels and more, buy as new (used) or very good from, for example, amazon.co.uk

Shop in charity shops:

1. Prices are quite competitive.
2. It is like buying an item that you do, by using it again, recycle.
3. You can find collectables for a bargain.

Buy food in bulk and freeze what you can. (you save space and packaging too)

Buy organic whenever you can

Buy local products when you can.

RE-GIVING TO EARTH/PEOPLE:

Recycle what you can, re use what you can, give what you can and only as the last resort, throw away things.

Use e mailing a lot, you save paper. If you send a gift, re use packaging and boxes too.

Volunteer if you can : smiles, hugs, thanks DO make you stronger and more complete as a man.

And that is it: within two or three weeks, that should be in place in your life and it becomes habit