Environment friendly toilet paper could change the world

Not only does plastic take center stage in environmental impact due to its excessive use, but we have also been ignoring another single-use product: toilet paper.

The United States Natural Resources Defense Council believes that the manufacturing of toilet paper is destroying the precious boreal forests of its neighboring country, Canada.

The boreal forests cover 60% of the area of Canada and are home to 600 indigenous populations and local animals. This forest absorbs large carbon emissions every year, proportional to 24 million cars. And these are only the repercussions to which a single country is subjected.

What to do to limit the deforestation of forests caused by the manufacture of toilet paper?

Toilet paper with recycled products

Using recycled products for the preparation of toilet paper is a great idea, just as it is done in other industries, it is a cheap and less environmentally abrasive way of manufacturing the product.

Who Gives A Crap is one of the avant-garde companies in this field, located in Australia they are not only engaged in manufacturing recycled toilet paper of the highest quality, they also build sanitary stations for people who do not have access to one. More than 2 million dollars have been donated so far for the construction of these bathrooms.

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The lack of sanitary foundations around the world is not only an inconvenience of comfort but it is on a large scale a health problem. The Who Gives A Crap studies show that approximately 2300 million people cannot access a toilet and approximately 289 thousand children under 5 years of age die annually from diarrheal diseases due to precarious health situations.

Through a campaign to raise funds in 2012, they got US $ 50,000 to start their production and in 2013 they delivered the first finished product. Who Gives A Crap manufactures three-layer toilet paper 100% made with recycled paper without aromas or dyes, they are covered with other recycled material avoiding the use of plastic.

Are there any other alternatives?

In addition to companies such as Who Gives A Crap, which manufacture toilet paper based on recycled paper, we can find other initiatives that offer hemp paper .

Hemp is a cannabis strain that has been used throughout history to create clothing, naval candles and of course, paper. Before toilet paper was made in quantities, wealthy people used hemp, wool or lace. The common population made use of leaves, rocks, hay, shells, algae and other materials .

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In the course of the nineteenth century, commercial toilet paper was innovated, from that moment several people have tested with paper based on hemp pulp, whose manufacture does not require the use of any chemical substance .

For many environmentalists, hemp is a sustainable and viable option to replace the toilet paper we know, it is more resistant, easily decomposes and preserves forests.