Tissues and our forests

| Filed under family, personal care

Yep, even the humble tissue can be very harmful to the environment. I had a huge shock the other day to discover that the manufacturer of the tissues we usually purchase gains the pulp from old growth forests.

Imagine that; the destruction of virgin forests, just so that we can blow our noses. It’s pretty disgusting. Aside from the source of the material used for making tissues, some manufacturers also use dangerous and highly toxic bleaching processes.

The problem is, you can’t always trust what’s written on the box. In the instance I mentioned above, the manufacturer stated that they source materials from renewable plantings and “sustainably managed forests” – it seems that they were using the term rather loosely.

The best advice I could offer here is to look for solid statements such as “no bleaching”, “unbleached” and “100% recycled paper” and similar. If you’re still not certain, most large companies offer consumer hotlines and you can gain clarification. If they can’t answer your questions or seem cagey about doing so, then that company is probably contributing to the destruction of old growth forests.

Do you have tips on sourcing earth friendly tissues or what to watch out for? Please share them below :)

Michael Bloch
Green Living Tips.com
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