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Whether it’s double rolled, three-ply or extra soft, toilet paper finds its way into students’ lives every day. But Greenpeace wants Americans to think more about the harsh effects that soft, cushy toilet paper can have on the environment.

According to a green tissue consumer guide Greenpeace released last month, if every family in America substituted just one roll of regular toilet paper with a recycled roll, more than 400,000 trees would be saved.

John Gawin, Abeline senior, is a lead activist with Greenpeace in Lawrence. Gawin said he tried to buy everything recycled when he could, including toilet paper.

“I just like the idea of not wasting resources,” Gawin said. “I think if everyone did that, we could all do our part to prevent global warming.”

Gawin said students didn’t often think about where their toilet paper came from or about its possible environmental consequences.

“It’s just something that we’ve used since we were small children,” Gawin said. “It’s just been there our whole lives. No one would think about it because we just use it and flush it down.”

The tissue guide ranked the environmental friendliness of tissue products, including paper towels, facial tissues, paper napkins and toilet paper. The tissues were ranked green, yellow or red, with green being the best. The ranking is based on three criteria: 1) The tissue is made from 100 percent recycled content, 2) the tissue is made from at least 50 percent post-consumer recycled content and 3) the tissue is bleached without toxic chlorine compounds.

A green ranking meant the tissue product met all three criteria. Greenpeace recommended those products. A yellow ranking meant two of the criteria were met and the product could do better. A red ranking meant the product met one or none of the criteria. The guide recommended consumers avoid products with a red ranking.

The Greenpeace Web site emphasized the importance of creating toilet paper from recycled paper, not by taking the material directly from trees.

Sheila Lowry, Dillons spokeswoman, said the softer brands such as Charmin, Cottonelle, Angel Soft and Quilted Northern were the most popular brands sold. Dillons does offer two brands of recycled-content toilet paper, Seventh Generation and Small Steps, though they are not as popular, Lowry said.

Many consumers stay away from recycled toilet paper because it can feel rougher than softer brands, but Ben Dory, grocery administrative assistant at the Community Mercantile, 901 Iowa St., said his customers frequently stocked up on recycled toilet paper.

Dory said the Merc sold two different brands of recycled toilet paper: Seventh Generation and Green Forest. Both brands received a green ranking in the tissue guide.

Dory said the price of a four-pack for Seventh Generation was $4.39, and a four-pack for Green Forest would cost $1.99. He said the Seventh Generation rolls were more expensive because they were double rolls and used almost twice the amount of materials.

The price of a four-pack of Scott, which received a red ranking in the tissue guide, was $4.39 at Dillons, the same price as Seventh Generation.

Dory said that no matter the price, there were plenty of incentives to buy what he called a “more responsible product.”

“The discrepancy is all in the ethical value of buying this product,” Dory said.

— — Edited by Chris Hickerson

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