Many of us trying to trend more lightly on the earth are careful about our use of paper. Printing only when necessary, using both sides of the paper and recycling it when we are done. But when it comes to other paper products such as toilet paper, we might not think of the impact we are making when we buy a certain brand of toilet paper. Unfortunately according to Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, 98% of the toilet paper sold in the US comes from virgin forests. The UK newspaper The Guardian recently claimed that the American desire for soft toilet paper is doing more environmental damage than the gas-guzzling Hummer. That seems plausible since it is something everyone uses multiple times a day yet horrifying considering that this product spends a mere second or two on our body before being flushed down the toilet.

Greenpeace has come out with a Recycled Tissue and Toilet Paper Guide to educate us on the choices we have. It ranks different brands of toilet paper, paper towels, paper napkins and facial tissue according to three criteria: percent post-consumer recycled material, percent overall recycled material, and the bleaching process. Fortunately there are a number of brands that are recommended, you just have to know where to find them.

Green Forest came out as the top brand in all categories, using 90% post-consumer recycled material in all their products, 100% overall recycled content and processed chlorine-free (without chemicals known to cause cancer.) Unfortunately I was unable to find this brand on shelves at my local stores. But online I was able to find it at Amazon.com and Drugstore.com. I was pleasantly surprised to find that their prices were competitive with the other recommended brands, particularly if you buy their toilet paper in bulk on Amazon or their paper towels at drugstore.com.

Doing some quick research at my local grocery stores, I concluded that the most readily available brands that were the most affordable were usually the 365 brand (Whole Foods' store brand) or Trader Joe's brand. Buying in bulk will also save you money as well.

Unfortunately most of the brands that are listed as brands to avoid are brands that are readily available and well-known. They contain little to mostly no post-consumer waste and are bleached with chlorine compounds which create super toxic chemicals known to cause cancer. These include Target brand, Wal-Mart brand, Scott, Kleenex, Cottonelle, Charmin and Brawny. Check the guide for a complete list.

In addition to buying products that pose the least amount of harm to the environment, we can cut down our impact even more if we avoid disposable paper products to begin with. Instead of using paper towels, use wash cloths, dish towels, cloth diapers or other rags that can be washed and reused many times. Instead of paper napkins use cloth napkins. Buy several different sets of cloth napkins to use at meals and you can feel like you are at a nice restaurant! Even when it comes to facial tissues there are alternatives like a handkerchief. When my son has a constant runny nose, I grab a burp cloth and use it throughout the day. At the end of the day I just toss it in the wash.

Download Greenpeace’s convenient pocket guide to keep in your wallet for when you go to the store so you don’t have to memorize which brands to buy and which to avoid!

Cosmetics, including every day toiletry items, contain thousands of different chemicals. Many of these chemicals have not been tested thoroughly and proven safe to humans while some that have been tested have been proven to cause cancer in animals. Because there is minimal regulations in terms of what can go into cosmetics it is left to the consumer to decide what is safe and what isn’t. Similar to produce and the “dirty dozen” you should avoid in terms of the produce with the highest amount of pesiticides, National Geographic’s Green Guide has come up with a “dirty dozen” list for cosmetic ingredients. Here is a list of the top 12 chemicals they recommend you avoid:

• Antibacterials


• Coal tar


• Diethanolamine (DEA)


• 1,4 Dioxane


• Formaldehyde


• Fragrance


• Lead and Mercury (doesn’t that count as two?)


• Nanoparticles


• Parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl-, isobutyl-)


• Petroleum Distillates


• P-Phenylenediamine


• Hydriquinone

Skin Deep, the Cosmetic Safety Database by Environmental Working Group is a great resource for finding out the exact ingredients in your different bathroom products ranging for your baby’s shampoo and sunscreen to your deodorant, nail polish, and even contact solution. Skin Deep rates each item on a scale from 0-10 with 10 being the most hazardous. They come to this rating by taking the ingredient list and looking at hazard data contained in more than 50 toxicity and regulatory databases. What is scary is that companies are not required by law to test for safety before selling these types of products. The Cosmetic Safety Database is filling in the gaps where information is lacking although not all ingredients that are being used by cosmetic companies have been tested. I prefer to approach chemicals using the precautionary principle and not wait for them to find out if something is toxic or not, but instead try to avoid it until proven safe.

Skin Deep has a very helpful shopping guide called “Safer Shopping Tips”. Here are their main points (you can go to the website for more details):

1. Use our What Not To Buy list.


2. Use fewer products.


3. Read labels.


4. Use milder soaps.


5. Minimize your use of dark hair dyes.


6. Cut down on your use of powders.


7. Choose products that are "fragrance"-free.


8. Reduce your use of nail polish.

I’m especially careful when it comes to using products on my son. A baby’s sensitivity to chemicals is going to be much greater than an adult and babies are always sticking things in their mouth. You don’t want your baby accidentally drinking the bath water that contains his toxic shampoo!

One of my favorite baby brands that is on the safer side is California Baby. I especially like their sunscreens and shampoo/body wash for sensitive skin. It is also now available at Target stores.

If you are using Skin Deep to look up the rating of products you are using, be sure to find the exact product because even within a single brand such as Johnson & Johnson, you will find products rating from a 3 to a 9.

For the rest of the house, I prefer using old rags and microfiber cloths. But when it comes to the toilet, I’d rather not be reusing something, especially if there is the chance it could accidentally be used to clean another part of the house (yes, I am a germaphobe). Thank goodness that Method helps me avoid reuse, but also keeps me green.

Method’s tub + tile wipes. As mentioned in one of my previous posts, Method is a company that has created a whole line of green cleaning products. Not only are they better for the environment than traditional disposable wipes, but they come in eye-pleasing packaging and yummy essential-oil based fragrances like pink grapefruit and lavender. They are also widely available in your local stores and at Amazon.

One of the things that drew me to the Method wipes was its packaging. When purchasing products, one way to avoid creating garbage is to look for products that come in the least amount of packaging. Many products come in multiple layers of packaging that are often unnecessary and will immediately get tossed in the trash. Instead look for items that have minimal amount of packaging, or its packaging can be recycled. Many cleaning wipes that are sold, including another type sold by Method, come in big plastic containers. And although most of those plastic containers are recyclable, I’d rather avoid having to recycle it in the first place. The wipes package, when empty, is very small. It’s also supposedly recyclable, although there isn’t a symbol telling me what kind of plastic it is made of.

The wipes are scented a lovely eucalyptus mint scent that isn’t too strong.

Instead of lugging out the gloves, spray bottle and a paper towel or rag, all you do is pull out the pre-moistened wipe. There is no need for gloves since there are no harsh chemicals to worry about. Just make sure to close the resealable opening so your wipes don't dry out. If they do, you can just wet them with some water, although you may lose some of the wipes' effectiveness.

Once you wipe and clean, it gets tossed right into the toilet. I love that they are flushable (wait until something else, ahem, needs to be flushed in order to not waste water) and biodegradable, making them a great, fairly green solution, particularly when compared with other forms of disposable wipes.

Do you use any products that are a "pretty green" solution that makes your life much easier? Or do you have any other bathroom cleaning tips to make the chore less of one? Share them here!