The Problem With Our TeePee

I thought about leaving the puns aside, but this is a sensitive subject. Toilet paper is serious business and comfort is king of many Americans' "thrones". One-ply, two-ply, three-ply, paper with lotion, with aloe and a stuffed teddy bear are a part of our culture as is baseball and apple pie. Of course, we talk more in public about baseball and dessert more than we do about wiping our behinds.

That means it has been hard for the green revolution in this country to permeate the toilet paper market. Yet environmental advocates must wipe away misconceptions about the issue and confront what those few seconds of softness means to our forests and ultimately the health of our planet.

From The Guardian:

"This is a product that we use for less than three seconds and the ecological consequences of manufacturing it from trees is enormous," said Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defence Council.

"Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age. Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution." Making toilet paper has a significant impact because of chemicals used in pulp manufacture and cutting down forests.

A campaign by Greenpeace seeks to raise consciousness among Americans about the environmental costs of their toilet habits and counter an aggressive new push by the paper industry giants to market so-called luxury brands.

More than 98% of the toilet roll sold in America comes from virgin forests, said Hershkowitz. In Europe and Latin America, up to 40% of toilet paper comes from recycled products. Greenpeace this week launched a cut-out-and-keep ecological ranking of toilet paper products.

Now those are some scary statistics. Just as we Americans have wised up about fuel-efficiency, recycling and conservation in other areas, it is time to do the same for toilet paper rolls. The industry will complain but in the end, if we as consumers demand change, so will the suppliers. So spread the word and buy recycled.

City Council Tosses Bottled Water

The City has talked a good game about recycling and cutting out waste, but city agencies have been slow to act. Finally after months of telling New Yorkers to stop using plastic water bottles, the City Council is falling in line and ridding itself of using plastic water bottles in the building and for functions.

From The NY Times:

Last week, the speaker’s office announced that it would stop buying bottled water for the Council’s downtown offices, which went through at least 6,000 single-serving bottles last year. As a result, bottled water will no longer be available at City Council events or official functions.

“We are obviously going to make paper cups available,” said Christine C. Quinn, the Council speaker. “We are going to urge people to bring in their own reusable water bottles.”

In addition, the city has started a pilot program with water coolers that use filtered tap water. Nine of the coolers have been installed in the last six months at City Hall and in the Municipal Building.

“It is a bit hypocritical for the city to be buying bottled water for city buildings while it is encouraging New Yorkers to drink city tap water,” said Simcha Felder, a Brooklyn councilman who pressed the cooler issue at budget hearings.

Just a lil' bit Mr. Felder, just a lil' bit. Good job on getting the Council to conserve plastic. It may be a small part of the waste New Yorkers make, but a step in the right direction is still movement. Now if only they could cut down on all those useless bills Council Members like to propose so their constituents think they're busy. Then we'd really be making a difference.

Paper, Not Plastic

If anyone knows the slightest difference between paper and plastic bags (besides that they look and feel different) from an environmental perspective, it is that paper is far better. Ideally a cloth bag that one can reuse is the best option, but if you without a carrying device and the choice is paper or plastic, go with the former.

Now, this being New York City and that we are represented by a City Council that likes to pass mostly meaningless legislation for legislation's sake, our representatives are seeking to put their two cents in on the problem of plastic bags. Frankly, there are too many of them in the trash and something needs to be done, but their proposal seems a bit ludicrous.

From The Daily News:

Speaker Christine Quinn and City Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens) are co-sponsors of the legislation aimed at reducing the flow of plastic bags that end up in the city's trash.

The bill targets any retail or wholesale store larger than 5,000 square feet that provides plastic carryout bags to its customers.

Under the terms of the legislation, each bag would have to display the message: "Please return this bag to a participating store for recycling" in letters at least 3 inches tall.

If it becomes law, stores would have six months to use their existing supply of unlabeled bags, and must provide bins where customers can deposit used bags.

The plastic bags could either be reused by shoppers or recycled by the business. Store owners risk fines of up to $2,000 a day if they fail to comply.

There are so many problems with this I don't even know where to begin. First of all, plenty of bodegas have less than 5,000 (or even 500) feet of floor space yet they use plenty of plastic bags, so why not include them? Also, so what if they label their bags and at an added cost to the market? Do you think people are really going to heed the message in a significant manner?

If Quinn and the rest of the council really wanted to make a difference, they would force every market to use paper bags and encourage New Yorkers to take re-usable cloth bags when they shop. Of course, this is the NYC City Council we are talking about, so I won't even try to get my hopes up.