A look at toilet paper

Three weeks ago I discussed the purchaseof coffee, the second most traded commodity in the world. But noteveryone drinks coffee. This time I decided to look into somethingeveryone reading this does use—toilet paper, one of life’s oftenoverlooked daily necessities (except when you run out!). We could cracka few jokes along the way, butt I’ll try to avoid that.

Before I get into the fascinating topicof toilet paper buying, I should perhaps introduce the idea of “importsubstitution” into our shopping mentality. Why import things beyond ourcommunity, state, or national boundaries that we can grow or make here?More and more restaurants and grocery stores are proclaiming that theyare proud to offer and celebrate locally produced food and beer, withsome products highlighted in the push for “Made in Michigan” or USA.  Ever hear any of them boast about their toilet paper? 

We have numerous forests andapproximately 20 pulp mills in Michigan, including a relatively vibrantrecycled paper industry, so getting paper products made from our ownbackyard should be doable. There is no real need for us to export ourdollars to Georgia, Washington, or Ontario to make our toilet paper andthen add all the environmental burdens of shipping it here. By usingour natural resource base wisely we can build jobs and reduce ourimpact on the natural world.

There is at least one working papertissue mill in Michigan — the Great Lakes Tissue Co. in Cheboygan. Theyuse 100 percent recycled /20 percent post-consumer pulp (mostly fromjuice boxes and plastic coated refrigerated products). Theymechanically remove the plastic and then pulp the fiber for making itinto tissue products. There is no chemical bleaching involved, saysClarence Roznowski of Great Lakes Tissue, thus the product is PCF:process chlorine free. But Roznowski says there is no real retailmarket for the 100 percent recycled toilet paper because consumersdon’t request it, so most of it is sold either through janitorialsupply outlets (none locally) by the case or more, or directly to biginstitutional buyers like universities, school districts and hospitals. 

Perusing the shelves at the localMeijer, Kroger, Target, Foods for Living, East Lansing Food Co-op, andGordon’s Food Service we see a range of options. Kroger and Targetoffer the usual brands (Cottonelle, Charmin, Angel Soft, Northern,Scotts,) plus some house brands, but none of these contains recycledcontent or any other environmental attributes, at least as noted on thepackage. Foods for Living and East Lansing Food Co-op, on the otherhand, each offer multiple options containing only recycled content andchlorine free processing, and in some cases even the packaging is madefrom post-consumer waste (Seventh Generation, Green Forest, and FieldDay). Gordon Food Service carries just one brand — Array— that iscertified with the “Environmental Choice” (Canadian Government)eco-label. Meijer also offers the standard brands, a house brand andits own (EcoWise) that shares similar attributes of the Green Forest,Seventh Generation, and Field Day brands. 

Comparing costs is much trickier becausepackage sizes vary greatly, as do the lengths of the rolls within them.Experience also suggests that some brands require fewer sheets toperform effectively than others. Thus, the best value based simply oneffectiveness requires some testing.

All else being equal, buying localshould be a winner (truth in advertising: I was a key player in thebirth of the Capital Area Local First). So if you want to buy local(Michigan-made) toilet paper, our work is cut out for us. 

 Butnot everything is equal. The production end is very important, but savethe little information on the “greener” products, we know nothing ofthe producers of this everyday product. We don’t know anything abouttheir environmental performance or if they compensate and treat theiremployees well or contribute to the communities where they operate. Butwe also know little about the performance of the retail establishmentsat which we buy the products. Are we so fixated on price that we areready to externalize all other costs (to employees, communities,ecosystems) to others? To make better choices for a sustainable future,we need better information. Then we need to follow our values. In thecoming columns we’ll look at additional angles on more consumerproducts and how to make choices that align more closely to our values,beyond the retail price.