programs go this is one I can get behind. I can take some "rough with the smooth" as the saying goes.

I'll recycle, use those peculiar light bulbs, drive less, and not buy bottled water, but when it comes to film for the brownie, I can't compromise.

More than 98% of the toilet roll sold in America comes from virgin forests," said Hershkowitz.

(aghast)I had no idea we were cutting down old growth redwood forest for this kind of thing. snark

...actually I think he (can only) mean that 98 percent of toilet paper is not recycled.

Make it out of Hemp!

Its almost legal now and you'll get a little high everytime you take a dump.

I've used single-ply, plain for years, and whenever I can afford it, I buy the unbleached recycled kind.

The real problem is the whole water-based system that fouls rivers and oceans for no good reason. What we really should be doing is designing systems that compost all that crap, so we can do something more useful with the result than tossing into the earth's DRINKING WATER. There are innovative companies making products from cattle droppings (like Poo Pots, makers of biodegradable plant containers), so why not human feces?

Butt the idea that me wiping my ass is somehow comparable to driving a HMMWV is a load of shit.

When Costco has it in bulk I'll use it.

It's bad enough being lectured by nut jobs about the kind of car I drive, the light bulbs I use and my conspicuos lack of recycling but I'll be damned if I will let anyone tell me what to wipe my bum with. Get a grip. Logging companies replant trees, They are a renewable resource. It would stupid for those "damned capitalists" to destroy their revenue stream by not replanting trees. I think the environmentalist movement has lost touch with reality. Conservatives are often accused of being out of touch, but at least we have the good sense to leave the tissue issue alone.

I can just hear it now: "Liberal Democrats impose environmental tax on soft toilet paper!"

Doesn't matter if it's true or not, and there goes our majority in the House in 2010.

I wipe my ass directly on trees.

While we're at it, chuck away your need for "Dixie Cups", paper towels (biggest unneeded waste ever!!!!), and any other insane paper products we've been told to consume all these years. (Our Canadian forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. Our boreal forest is larger than the Amazon rainforest.)

quite surprised that more tp is not made from recycled fiber. The de-inking and re-pulping processes result in short fibers which limit the amount of recycled material that can used in products such as newsprint. It can't be made stiff enough. Recycled pulp is a natural for products where stiffness is not desirable. Personally I would pay a premium for such a product if they could guarantee the source. Say the National Review or Jonah Goldberg's print overuns.

At our store they carry it in little packs - four to a package - and the costs are outrageous compared to the other we use - Scott's (single Ply).

I'm all for the recycled product - but because of our budget, I'm simply NOT going to buy it.

If they sold it in bulk like Scott, and it brought the price down some - I'd consider buying it. Until then - if they want us to buy it - they have to find a way to make it more affordable.

We do as much as we can to be green conscious, including flourscent bulbs in every room in fixture in our house, lowering indoor temps, watching how far we drive, etc. We recycle almost everything, including clothes - if we can't we give it away.

They need to get smarter about this.
*

there has been development of reusable toilet wipes.

http://living.wallypop.net/wipes.html

The last 8 years consumption of toilet paper use in Washington skyrocketed as politicians needed it to wipe both ends that were spewing too much of the brown stuff.

Where do you think the subsidies go to? They go to logging industries that clear cut forests, not to sustainable companies that have sustainable practices. All it will take it diverting subsidies from the clear cutters to companies that cut from sustainable forests, and then prices for sustainable products will fall.

You have a right to complain about costs, but blaming "hippie brands" as you call them is not the answer. You are right to advocate for these products to be more widely available to everyone, middle class and poor, and I hope they will be in the coming years.

I would buy into this thread if it hadn't been busted by Penn and Teller's, "Bullshit".

Paper products like this are grown cyclically and not from old forest, or even trees older than one year. I could understand the bleaching chemicals.... which could be removed. I don't understand peoples fascination with white paper to wipe your ass. I'd almost prefer any color but white...
but before we go screaming, "Save the Trees." Remember all the trees grown for this paper were grown within the year for the strict purpose of toilet paper... not old growth trees.

the role of the Kotex King of the House of Representatives, James Sensenbrenner.

I've been living in Asian countries for several years. Next to Western style toilets is what I call a 'bum gun' -- similar to a garden hose and nozzle. Once you've gotten used to this, you never go back to toilet paper. Toilet paper is gross to use AND bad for the planet. You'll feel cleaner and better about your place in the world if you install a bum gun. (I call mine the Ass Blaster 2000. Sometimes I have to smoke a cigarette after I leave the bathroom.)

I am an old left wing liberal with no stake in the toilet paper or logging industry. My problem is, I simply hate being told lies from any lobby source, liberal or industry. This article is full of careful lies. Quality toilet paper is NOT made from virgin forests! It is mainly composed of the scraps and sawdust waste from tree farms! Look it up, people! When something doesn't make sense, then maybe it's because there's a problem with the message. The actual wood cut from a tree is way too valuable from any source, either virgin forests or tree farms, to use for anything but lumber for building.

It's not the first time I've seen this from our own side. Environmentalists in particular think because they have a good cause, it gives them the right to lie. That's the same "end justifies the means" thinking that the conservative right used to almost destroy America. And it leaves the people who do know the facts wondering what other lies our side is trying to pass off.

We are better than that. Recycling is a fine thing, but so is trusting people with the truth.

Save money and the Earth and be clean at the same time! Get serious and add Bathroom Bidet Sprayers to all your bathrooms. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: "if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn't wipe it off with paper, would you? You'd wash it off” Available at www.bathroomsprayers.com with these you won't even need toilet paper any more, just a towel to dry off! Don’t worry, you can still leave some out for guests and can even make it the soft stuff without felling guilty. It's cheap and can be installed without a plumber; and runs off the same water line to your toilet. You'll probably pay for it in a few months of toilet paper savings. And after using one of these you won't know how you lasted all those years with wadded up handfuls of toilet paper. Now we're talking green and helping the environment without any pain.

I'm glad some others have commented on the utter hyperbole of comparing TP to driving hummers? What an outrageous claim. Where's the study? The claim of most TP coming from virgin forests is an outright lie. The NRDC intentionally conflates virgin forests with virgin fiber. Yes, most of the TP comes from virgin fiber, ie. logs and their by-products. Most virgin forests in the US are protected. Most of our paper and wood products come from lands that have been harvested multiple times and are dedicated production forests. The pulp comes from wood residues which are a by-product of making lumber. Recycling paper has environmental costs also.

I always like to see the hemp people go crazy about wood and how great hemp is. Please tell me how many acres of hemp occur NATURALLY in the U.S.? How many species of plants and animals occur in these hemp areas? The fact is that forests can provide multiple products to society including clean water, wildlife habitat, wood products, carbon sequestration, food, clean air, etc. This dualistic notion of saving vs. destroying forests is childish, absurd and a false choice. Natural forests are much more diverse and productive than ANY hemp farm would EVER be.

I would like to see some of these people who talk about clearcutting as destroying forests, try to walk through a ten year clearcut in the eastern hardwood region. Can't be done. It is full of new young growing trees. I've often wondered why people especially women go crazy over new animals such as babies, puppies, kittens, etc and people are attracted to new consumer products and yet there is no such appreciation of new trees. People cling to old trees. Why is that.

...in all fairness, it's not "the tenderness of the delicate American buttock" it's the tenderness of the delicate American anus.