Wondering which paper towel or toilet paper is the greenest?
The nonprofit advocacy group, Greenpeace, has just released a pocket guide to paper products -- an updated version of the old NRDC guide. The products also include facial tissues and paper napkins, although many people suggest ANY paper napkin is not a good thing. Use cloth until it’s dirty, wash it with the rest of the clothes and skip the ironing.
Anyway, among the brands Greenpeace recommends are Green Forest, Natural Value, Seventh Generation, 365 and Trader Joe’s. It suggests you avoid Kleenex Cottonelle, Charmin, Quilted Northern, Angel Soft and even Scott Naturals.
You can download the guide here:
Greenpeace uses three benchmarks in making its ratings. The recommended brands are made from 100 percent overall recycled content, a minimum of which is 50 percent post-consumer recycled content, and are not bleached with chlorine or toxic chlorine compounds.
The guide lists those recommended, those that "can do better" and those that should be avoided. With each brand, it lists the percentage of recycled content and specifies the bleaching process.
"Tissue products that are made from recycled content help to reduce our impact on ancient forests, protecting forest ecosystems and wildlife," said Greenpeace forest campaigner Lindsey Allen in a statement. "By using our guide and voting with their dollars, shoppers can help save endangered forests."
Critical among them is the Canadian Boreal, which provides nesting grounds for millions of songbirds. But it is being heavily logged, and Greenpeace contends many of the trees go straight into paper products.
Greenpeace has had a long-standing battle with Kimberly-Clark, the largest tissue product company in the world. Greenpeace gave an "avoid" rating to these Kimberly-Clark brands: Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle and Viva.
Greenpeace forgot the easily available, cheap, new Marcal products called Smallsteps.— oddie
I just take a handful of water and swish it all around.— COskier
GreenSpace - her column about how to reduce your carbon footprint in everyday life - appears every other Monday in Health & Science.
 | Follow on Twitter |
- Facts of the Day Former DEP secretary John Hanger
- WolfeNotes NJ environmental policy expert Bill Wolfe
- PennFuture Pennsylvania environmental advocacy
- A Rube With a View NJ wildlife and conservation expert Larry Niles
- View From the Cape What’s happening birdwise at Cape May
- Beverly Milestone Maisey Environmental issues and Transition Cheltenham
- My Plastic-Free Life California’s Beth Terry goes without
- GreenFaith Interfaith Partners for the Environment
- LA Times Greenspace blog
- B’More Green Baltimore Sun’s environmental blog
- Blue Marble Mother Jones' enviro blog
- All about Philly recycling
- RecycleNOW Philadelphia
- Next Great City Philly urban sustainability
- Mayor’s Office of Sustainability
- Transition Town Media
- Transition Cheltenham
- Wissahickon Growing Greener
- Sustainable Delaware County
- One If By Land Bucks County Citizen journalism on the environment.
- PhillyCompost
- Regional air quality partnership
- Philadelphia Air Management Services
- Clean Air Council in Philadelphia
- Clean Water Action in PA
- Sierra Club, NJ Chapter
- Sierra Club, Pennsylvania Chapter
- Energy Coordinating Agency
- Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
- Delaware River Basin Commission
- Academy of Natural Sciences’ Center for Environmental Policy
- Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future
- Pennsylvania Environmental Council
- PennEnvironment
- Delaware Riverkeeper Network
- Philly Rivercast A daily forecast of water quality in the Schuylkill River
- Environment New Jersey
- New Jersey Environmental Federation
- NJ PIRG
- NJ’s American Littoral Society
- NJ’s Clean Ocean Action
- The Nature Conservancy, Pennsylvania Chapter
- NJ Pinelands Commission
- Pinelands Preservation Alliance
- New Jersey Audubon Society
- Bucks County Audubon Society
- Valley Forge Audubon Society
- Wyncote Audubon Society
- Delaware Valley Ornithological Club
- Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education
- Philly’s Women’s Health and Environmental Network
- Dumpster Divers of Philadelphia
- Environmental news and commentary from grist.org
- National Geogoraphic’s Green Guide
- Treehugger green living site
- The Daily Green
- Green Living from the Natural Resources Defense Countil
- February
- January
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- News | Sports | Business | What's Happening | Restaurants & Food | Entertainment | Living | Marketplace | Jobs
