Americans’ Obsession With Wiping Is Wiping Out Canada’s Forests

re: Americans’ Obsession With Wiping Is Wiping Out Canada’s Forests

pipremier01 — 3/12/2019 5:00:22 AM

Great blog!

re: Americans’ Obsession With Wiping Is Wiping Out Canada’s Forests

quinine — 3/7/2019 7:23:23 PM

They debunked this on reddit. Old growth timber is not used for making toilet paper or wipes. Pulp wood trees are used for making toilet paper or virgin fiber. The pulpwood forests are managed and replanted. Actually I get quite tired of people complaining about old growth forests getting cut down. Here in Ohio the woods are managed and trees are harvested selectively about every 10 to 15 years while leaving the younger trees in place. They harvest maple, oak, black walnut etc.

I have seen tree farms in Michigan and Arkansas. They clear cut great swaths of pine in Arkansas then replant them in southern Arkansas. In Northern Arkansas, they tend to harvest Oaks. Oaks grow as fast or faster then pine in Northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri. We used to heat our house in Arkansas with the cut offs ends from the logs at the sawmill.

I don't like the clear cutting as I think it leads to too much of a monoculture, but I used to ride my horses on the trails in the clear cut areas and there was wild life all over the place. They lease out the clear cut areas to hunt clubs for deer and other animals so I guess it doesn't really decrease wild life that much.

re: Americans’ Obsession With Wiping Is Wiping Out Canada’s Forests

Almond — 3/7/2019 3:35:42 AM

I am very bad about using cloths for cleaning, but I am making an effort for some things. (For other things, I figure the cost of paper towels is Iess than the cost of laundry. Water used, soap, electricity, etc.. So, there are trade-offs.) There are some very nasty messes I prefer to use disposable paper towels for. However, I am trying a new system. I keep cleaning cloths under each sink. They are color coded for different tasks. Blue for kitchen cleaning tasks and green for bathroom scrubbing. <=I have a thing about separating those. Also, another color as a dust cloth. Old socks with holes in them for polishing shoes and boots are kept in a basket with polish. I am not too concerned about renewable resources (paper towels), since I grow more than my share of trees to offset what I use--that also contributes to clean air.

The use of plastic wrap can be reduced by covering bowls of food with old plates. I keep some old mismatched plates around just for this reason. This also makes it easier to stack bowls in the refrig if your refrigerator is small or you need more space. Old plates are easier to wash than cutting boards. Gallon glass jars are easier to wash and sterilize than crocks which may have hairline cracks that harbor bacteria.

I have been considering getting some of those waxed fabrics (sort of like oil cloth) that are reusable for packing lunches. It seems easy and practical. When I lived in Spain, I recall women would wrap leftover loaves of bread in clean dish towels. I recall that never kept it very fresh, but bread was never kept long. Leftover bread was used in many recipes, though.

Here is a compact recycling idea for preppers and people who rely on an outhouse. Pulp phone books are available in abundance when they are distributed. The crumpled pages work very well in a time of need. Very similar to the old Sears&Roebuck catalogs, but not very interesting as bathroom reading.