William Atkins
Saturday, 12 December 2009 21:27
Science -
Climate
Page 1 of 2
Toilet paper that is made from new wood uses much more energy to produce than toilet paper made from recycled paper. However, your bottom will lose out in the battle for softness. Find out just how green is your toilet paper.
According to the much larger article in
New Scientist magazine entitled “Inconspicuous Consumption,” November 28-December 4, 2009, toilet paper comes in many different varieties, from one-ply to three-ply and from those made entirely with new wood and those 100% recycled from paper.
Toilet paper that is recycled entirely from used paper reduces the amount of energy needed, when compared to toilet paper produced from new wood.
The emissions into our environment, such as from carbon dioxide (CO
2), are also reduced with the use of recycled toilet paper.
According to the New Scientist story, one kilogram of recycled toilet paper saves about 30 liters of water and between three and four kilowatt-hours of electricity, over the same mass of toilet paper made from new wood.
The article states, “
Since 1 kilowatt-hour of grid electricity is responsible for around 500 grams of CO2, that means a saving of 1.5 to 2 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of tissue.”
People around the world use different amounts of recycled toilet paper. For instance, in Latin American and European countries, about one in five rolls of toilet paper are made from 100% recycled paper. In the United States, the ratio is only one in 50 rolls.
The environmental organization Greenpeace is mentioned in the New Scientist article as saying that the use of new wood for the production of toilet paper
“… puts additional logging pressure on old-growth forest in North America, forests which play a vital role in supporting native biodiversity.”
Page two talks about softness in the different varieties of toilet paper, along with external links to additional information on the "greeness" of your toilet paper.
