Where does your toilet paper come from?

by Michael

You should know where your toilet paper comes from because it may help stop the world flushing the tiger down the drain.

There is a very big and unscrupulous paper manufacturer in Asia called Asia Pulp & Paper (APP). They like to tear down primary virgin forest to convert it to mundane consumer products such as toilet paper and copying paper. In this instance I am referring to the Sumatran forest and the endangered Sumatran tiger. Other animals affected are the elephants and orangutans.

Aren't we sophisticated enough to find alternative means to make these products without destroying the planet's forests and the wildlife that live in them? Apparently not, especially when there is a certain amount of collusion and corruption in the political sphere. Big business - and APP is exactly that - combined with corrupt government = environmental destruction for financial profit.

It is not just the tigers and other wildlife that suffer from uncontrolled deforestation but the livelihoods of the local people. Big business hurts small business. A balance needs to be struck.

Paseo and Livi are two fast growing brands of toilet paper in the United States. They supply hotels and restaurants etc. Both Livi and Paseo Tissue Paper have an ISO 14001 standard for the environment. This seems to be all but meaningless and worse, misleading. Ignore it. It is promotional B*llsh*t.

This page shows a range of Paseo paper tissue products.

Paseo and Livi source fiber from APP.

I would politely ask visitors to this page to stop buying toilet tissue manufactured by Paseo and Livi.

I don't think it would represent a huge hardship to people to buy alternate brands. It would be a way for each individual to do a little bit towards the conservation of the planet. I believe that it is time we all contributed in that task.

I would also urge retailers and wholesalers (e.g. Mercury Paper, Solaris Paper, Papermax) to stop carrying these products - please.

We are coming to crunch time with regard to the tiger in the wild. Soon this most popular and majestic of all wild animals will be gone from the wild for eternity. Can we accept that? Don't you think it would be a terrible stain on the reputation of humankind if it happened?

See also deforestation in Indonesia

Read more about the beautiful Sumatran tiger.

Michael