Toilet paper is a waste of Canada's boreal forest, a U.S. environmental advocacy group says. But more green options are hitting the market, the NRDC's latest report card finds. Will choosing them make a difference?Environmental advocates say protecting the Canadian boreal forest is crucial to preserve its ability to act as a carbon sink and as a habitat for biodiversity. Toilet paper is a waste of Canada's boreal forest, a U.S. environment group says.
While trees are generally replanted in Canada's boreal forest after harvesting, logging results in forest degradation in the short term — and Jordan said that impacts the biodiversity of local plants and animals "that can take decades to come back from."Sixteen brands received an A+ and 22 an A, because they contained high percentages of recycled content.
Whole Foods Market's "365 by Whole Foods Market, 100% Recycled" toilet paper, available in Canadian Whole Foods stores, landed one of the top scores. The other top-scoring brands were largely only available in the U.S. Jordan said it's a reflection of consumer demand: "To keep up in this marketplace, brands are going to need to be able to really tick both of those boxes of softness and sustainability."The industry and many forestry researchers appear to fundamentally disagree with the NRDC's views on forest management in Canada. They instead argue that Canadian forests are handled in a way that ensures their long-term sustainability, and that their wood products are renewable.
Mathew Leitch, a forestry professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., agrees, saying forestry in Canada uses the entire tree. She said young, replanted forests absorb carbon faster than mature forests, but take a long time to store as much carbon as a mature one. That could influence, for instance, how much fuel is used to transport or shop the recycled paper to manufacturing facilities.