What is it about ?
These are often used only once, end up in the toilet or the rubbish bin after use and so are lost to the paper life cycle.
Product groups
Toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, kitchen roll, serviettes, cleaning cloths, cosmetic wipes and covering papers.
Hint
Use fabric napkins, tablecloths and handkerchiefs that can be washed after use. Avoid printed and brightly coloured hygiene paper products that can only be used once. This helps to save resources. Use dispensers for toilet paper and paper towels in public toilets or the workplace. This can reduce the use of hygiene paper products. The use of paper towels can be avoided by using hand dryers or washable fabric towels – but these require electricity and regular maintenance.
Criteria
Shop Green hygiene paper products are made entirely from recycled paper and so help to conserve natural resources. Hygiene paper products made from new fibres (i.e. cellulose from trees), on the other hand, often result from deforestation of primeval woodland or come from massive forestry plantations (monocultures with high pesticide use).
Wet wipes are not treated in the campaign because they are not usually made of recycled material and cause problems in the waste water treatment plant.