The fluffy toilet paper you are buying is helping kill Canada's ancient forest, study says

Few places in the country are more conscientious about sustainability and protecting the environment than the Bay Area.

We recycle plastics, glass, paper and cans religiously. Bring tote bags to the supermarket. Install low-flush toilets and water-saving shower nozzles. Compost food scraps and milk cartons.

But like everyone else, we also love a good deal. So for bulk products at a discount, many of us turn to Costco, a big-box favorite that lives up to its mission statement to provide its members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices.

Unfortunately, one of Costco's biggest sellers — toilet paper — is contributing to the destruction of Canada's great boreal forest, according to a recent study.

The reportby the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Stand.earth gave Costco's in-house brand Kirkland toilet paper, which it sells in hay bale-size packs of dozens of rolls, an "F" in sustainability. Costco was not alone, however. Georgia-Pacific's Angel Soft and Quilted Northern brands, Proctor & Gamble's Charmin, and Target's generic Up & Up Soft & Strong all received failing grades.

Toilet paper is a daily necessity, but most of us never give a thought to where it comes from.

The manufacture of bathroom tissue — particularly the soft, fluffy kind marketed for American bottoms — is one of the most "environmentally destructive" processes on the planet, according to the NRDC.

"Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age," NRDC scientist Allen Hershkowitz told the Guardianin 2009. "Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution."

The boreal forest is a vast landscape of aspen, evergreen and birch trees covering more than half of Canada, but since 1996, 22 million acres — an area roughly the size of Indiana — have been cut down to produce virgin fiber pulp, the key ingredient in premium toilet paper and hand tissues. With the exception of China, no country uses more tissue products than the U.S. despite the latter having only about 4 percent of the world's population.

An analysis by Justin Thomas, editor of the efficient living guide metaefficient.com, found that Americans use 36.5 billion rolls of toilet paper each year, which according to paper industry marketing analysis firm RISI, equates to 57 sheets per person each day.

The boreal forest is critically important because it serves as an effective check on climate change, according to the NRDC-Stand.earth study, dubbed "The Issue with Tissue." Cutting down millions of trees each year erodes the forest's ability to absorb man-made greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, logging releases immense quantities of carbon safely stored in forests' soil and vegetation.

"Most Americans probably do not know that the toilet paper they flush away comes from ancient forests, but clear-cutting those forests is costing the planet a great deal," Anthony Swift, director of the NRDC's Canada Project, said in a news release. "Maintaining the Canadian boreal forest is vital to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change."

The three companies with the largest market shares in the tissue business — Proctor & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark and Georgia-Pacific — use virgin pulp almost exclusively for at-home tissue brands. In 2017, those brands made up 80 percent of all toilet paper sales in the U.S, a study published in Statista found.

Georgia-Pacific responded to the NRDC study by saying that the company does use recovered fiber in addition to virgin wood. A Kimberly-Clark spokesperson said the company has set a goal to cut the virgin pulp content in its products in half by 2025.

Proctor & Gamble's media relations department did not respond to an email requesting comment on the study's findings.

A call to Costco's toilet paper buyer was not returned. Costco makes a point of declaring on its site that it is committed to sustainability and to operating "efficiently and in an environmentally responsible manner." You can read its full sustainability statement here.

In 2012, CNBC reported that toilet paper was Costco's top-selling product, its "crown jewel," with more than a billion rolls sold per year.

ALSO: Trader Joe's listens to customer feedback, making big changes

Not all the toilet paper sold by Costco is the super-soft kind that relies on virgin pulp. For example, the company also sells Seventh Generation, an "A"-rated toilet paper made from recycled paper.

But recycled-content toilet paper manufacturers have had a difficult time competing against the marketing budgets of premium paper producers, who seemingly will spare no expense to hype the pillowy softness of their tissue.

Besides texture, a big issue for consumers is cost. In general, recycled-content toilet paper is more expensive, though the price has been dropping thanks to manufacturing efficiencies.

While recycled-content paper is slightly rougher than premium, most people don't complain about having to use it at work or, say, at a restaurant.

At home, it's a different story. But if people knew the environmental consequences of pampered posteriors, they might be willing to sacrifice a little softness.

Here are the NRDC/Stand.earth grades for toilet brands:

A — Green Forest, 365 Everyday Value 100% Recycled, Earth First, Natural Value, Seventh Generation, Trader Joe's Bath Tissue.

B — Marcal 1000, Marcal Small Steps (note: Marcal has suspended manufacture of its at-home products due to a January fire at a plant).

F — Charmin Ultra (Soft and Strong), Kirkland, Angel Soft, Quilted Northern, Up & Up Soft & Strong.

Source: Sfgate.com

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