American taste for soft toilet roll 'worse than driving Hummers'

The tenderness of the delicate American buttock is causing more environmental devastation than the country's love of gas-guzzling cars, fast food or McMansions, according to green campaigners. At fault, they say, is the US public's insistence on extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply products when they use the bathroom.
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Recycled toilet paper in Australia?

Only five percent of the toilet paper we flush away in Australia is made from recycled paper. The rest is virgin fibre from plantation or native-forest trees. Some even have a 'sustainable forest fibre' logo which is not recognised, meaningless and is misleading.

So which toilet paper is better for the environment and how do consumers know which product to trust?

Firstly, try to buy recycled paper — it conserves the most resources from an environmental point of view. A 2005 NSW government study found that for every tonne of paper that’s recycled, 400kg of greenhouse emissions are saved. This is because virgin fibre requires significant energy (and water) for harvesting raw materials, pulping and processing.

If you can’t find recycled paper, go for a brand endorsed by an environmental group. The two most widely recognised ecolabels for paper in Australia are:

- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC): This logo indicates that any virgin fibre in the paper is derived from sustainably managed forests.

- Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA): This has standards for both recycled and plantation fibre products, but there's currently only a limited number of products with this logo.