Nearly half of the trash in landfills throughout the United States comes from paper products, including bathroom tissue and paper towels. Unlike many other paper goods, these products can only be used once. There is no potential for recycling what’s been used, but purchasing greener tissue and towels can reduce the environmental impact of the products.
When shopping for environmentally friendly paper towels and bathroom tissue, keep these guidelines in mind:
- Choose high-capacity roll paper towels that are wrapped around a core made from 100 percent recycled fiber. Controlled-use dispensing is preferable because it reduces overuse and waste.
- When possible, buy paper towels and bathroom tissue that are Green Seal certified as environmentally preferable according to standards GS-1 and GS-9.
- Look for items that contain the largest amount of tissues or towels, like jumbo rolls that have at least 800 feet of paper towels or Green Seal certified bathroom tissue rolls with a minimum of 40 square feet of tissue.
- Choose paper towels that contain at least 40 percent postconsumer waste and bathroom tissues that are made from at least 40 percent postconsumer waste. Products made with postconsumer waste channel more trash away from landfills.
- All paper towels and bathroom tissue should be made from 100 percent recovered materials. These materials include postconsumer waste and paper waste left over from the paper-making process, such as bindery trimmings, unused or rejected stock, obsolete inventories or envelope cuttings.
Georgia-Pacific has incorporated sustainability into their company culture and business decisions. Since 2017, they’ve set out to develop a premium toilet paper that does more for the environment. The result is Aria, a new generation of toilet paper that combines premium quality with sustainability. Aria tissue is made at Georgia-Pacific’s mill in Port Hudson, Louisiana, using a proprietary manufacturing technology that creates thick, soft paper while being energy- and water-efficient. All of the energy used to create Aria comes from 100% renewable biomass power. Aria\’s materials are also sustainably — the brand plants three trees for every one used and uses locally and suitably sourced trees and plant-based packaging to reduce its environmental footprint.
To learn more about choosing bathroom tissue and paper towels that contribute to a greener, more environmentally-friendly cleaning program, contact the team at Banner Systems today!
