Nov 17, 2007

You have to wonder...

if the environment would be a better place if we, the children of the 70's, had stuck to our guns about pollution, environmental controls, loss of the rain forest, etc. We knew about it then and we said so. But we didn't try hard enough. We didn't boycott products enough. Our voices were heard and then forgotten. Here it is the 30 years later, and it is suddenly trendy to "go green". If you haven't watched Ed Begley's show on HGTV, "Living with Ed" -- watch it for some great ideas on small things you can do around your house to both save the environment and save on your energy bills. And aw shucks, Ed's just a cutie, so watch for that! Jeff and I have made changes here. We are consciously trying to make good decisions that cut down on the amount of water we use, energy we use, etc. Ninety-percent of our home is now furnished with the new eco-friendly light bulbs. We had our furnace tuned. We installed a new storm door. We're shutting off the hot tub for the months of January thru April. Just little things, but it's something that we can do. So, here's one more we can do without drastically changing our way of life. I can boycott Kimberly Clark products. They will no longer enter this house until the company stops using fibers from the endangered forests. Did you know that it takes 90 years to grow a box of Kleenex? That's right, every time you use a Kleenex tissue, you are blowing away ancient forests. And every time you use Scott or Cottonelle toilet paper, you’re flushing old growth trees down the toilet. That's because Kimberly Clark, maker of these products, all but refuses to use recycled paper in its products. So here's the list of products that will no longer come in this house:
  • Kleenex
  • Scott
  • Cottonelle
  • Viva
  • Kotex
  • Depend
  • Huggies

There are plenty of other companies that make similar products that do not refuse to use recycled materials in their same products.

It's that easy to make a difference.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

If you are looking at recycled content in paper products, you would also have to boycott P&G's paper products, too. They have 0% recycled content. I found a list of paper products you could use: http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp.
I personally find some of the recycled stuff hard to use, and also hard to find if I'm in a pinch, so I'm one of those people who doesn't go out of my way to use recycled. I think part of the problem has been and will continue to be the matter of self-efficacy. While there are a lot more "green" choices than there were before, people--including myself--will tend to pass them by thinking it doesn't make that much of a difference and the regular brands are cheaper and better.

Jeff Johnson said...

You voting for Hillary or Obama??? Hippie!!! =)

Joan J said...

I check out that web address, Lisa. I don't recognize any of the brands, unfortunately. I think I'll start asking Kroger to carry brands that contain at least some recycled material.
Jeff - That's MOMMA HIPPY to you :0 smOOch

Anonymous said...

I don't think I would use a feminine hygiene product that was made with recycled materials!