New poll shows 85% of Americans want greener toilet paper

March 22, 2019

Stand.earth, NRDC survey reveals majority of consumers also concerned their tissue products come from trees clearcut from ancient forests

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — As communities across the globe celebrate International Day of Forests, a new poll released today, Thursday, March 21, shows a majority of Americans are concerned their toilet paper comes from trees clearcut from ancient forests like the Canadian boreal forest, and a vast number of consumers want tissue products made with recycled or alternative fibers.

See the poll: https://www.stand.earth/sites/default/files/Tissue-Survey-March-2019.pdf

 

The poll results reveal that nearly two thirds of Americans are concerned that their toilet paper is made from clear-cutting globally important forests, and that 85% want toilet paper and tissue sector companies to use more environmentally responsible materials.

“Most Americans don’t want to be complicit in flushing forests down the toilet. Tissue manufacturers should listen to their customers and create products made from recycled or responsibly sourced materials. We can’t keep clearcutting living ecosystems like the Canadian boreal forest just to make toilet paper — we need to keep these vital ecosystems intact.” -Tyson Miller, Forest Program Director at Stand.earth 

International environmental organizations Stand.earth and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) commissioned the poll, following the release of their “Issue with Tissue” report last month. The report features a sustainability scorecard that flunks Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, and Georgia-Pacific for using zero recycled content in their at-home toilet paper brands. Given its position as the nation’s best selling toilet paper brand, Charmin, made by Procter & Gamble, is called out for refusing to increase its use of recycled and alternative materials.

“Charmin is America’s leading toilet paper brand, but it’s at the back of the pack when it comes to sustainability. Charmin perpetuates a highly destructive tree-to-toilet pipeline by sending trees from invaluable forests like the boreal to an ignoble fate in our bathrooms. Procter & Gamble must harness its innovative spirit to make Charmin planet-safe.” -Shelley Vinyard, Boreal Campaigns Manager at NRDC

The Canadian boreal forest, which is often called the “Amazon of the North,” stores nearly two times as much carbon as all the world’s recoverable oil reserves combined but is being clearcut at a rate of a million acres per year.

The poll, conducted by Engine, was performed by phone within the United States between March 4-5, 2019 among a randomly selected sample of 1,004 participants.

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Media contacts:

Virginia Cleaveland, Stand.earth, 510-858-9902 (US), 778-984-3994 (Canada), virginia@stand.earth 

Margie Kelly, NRDC, 541-222-9699, mkelly@nrdc.org