"Soft toilet paper is ruining the planet--huh?"

Et tu, Brutus? From today's NI:

"I would like for him to think, 'If I make a statement or give a speech, trees fall.'"

One of my pet peeves about the public perception of our industry is that we kill trees, leaving a clear cut earth behind that declines and eventually becomes wasteland. To combat this gross misperception, we need to constantly be vigilant about publicly correcting the misperception that the paper industry "kills trees". While it is, of course, quite true in the literal sense that trees die to make paper, it is still akin to accusing farmers in Iowa of "killing corn" to make cattle feed or our beloved breakfast cereals.

Part of our thinking must be that we are good stewards of the resources that are required for papermaking and we actually do maintain sustainable management practices. We should be communicating that to those poor unfortunate souls who are NOT in our industry as well as those lucky few who are. It's a frame of mind that would all do us good and just might, if repeated often enough and loudly enough, be understood by the general population instead of the lies that have been told about us by the environmental extremists.

The fact is that we have more trees in this country now than we did 70 years ago, thanks in large part to the advanced silviculture practices of the paper industry. It's also important to note that two-thirds of the wood fiber we use come from recycled fiber or trees that are less than 8" (200mm) in diameter, or are waste/sick/infested/damaged and cannot be used for lumber or furniture.

We are, for the most part, being good stewards of our forest resources and we should talk about that positive aspect until we are heard by the left side of the room.

Warm regards,

Jon Kerr

Loveland, Ohio
USA

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Jim:

I read the Times article on soft toilet paper and found myself disgusted more than ever with this newspaper. This is just another case where the journalist has his facts wrong or distorted. Nor was there mention of the tree farms planting and producing more trees than are now being consumed by the paper industry. I grew up with the N Y Times and believed they "printed all the news fit to print." This is not the only topic where they omit the facts and show favoritism. I am not being political in this instance since I am an Independent who voted Democrat in the last election. Now retired, I spent most of my business career as a manufacturer of recycled paperboard. I just cannot tolerate untruths in reporting or in business.

Sincerely,

David Lambert

USA

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A friend sent me this news link on TP...

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/03/lecturing-
us-toilet-paper-it-rubs-folks-wrong-way

Tom Rodencal

Duluth, Georgia
USA

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Excellent article, Jim. Thanks.

Keep up the good work.

Phil Hoekstra

Memphis, Tennessee
USA

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Hi Jim,

Thanks for the great article. On behalf of PaperIndex, I would like to send toilet paper rolls to Allen but the problem is that we are in India. Would it be possible for you to help us with this? I am willing to send USD 100 via PayPal for this so that Allen get a 'gift' of about 20 rolls from us. This will be a lot of help indeed. Thanks a lot.

Best regards,

Vivek Srivastava

Hi Jim,

PaperIndex Times is visited by about 16,000 visitors a month and I am thinking of launching a "Send Toilet Paper to Allen" campaign on the site to help your idea spread far and wide and for a longer period of time. Do you have some thoughts on this as to how to implement it effectively?

We need to teach environmental terrorists or pseudo-environmentalists a lesson or at least make our presence felt. You rightly said in the newsletter that our industry has been shy in presenting its case. We need to do something!

Best regards,

Vivek Srivastava

Hi Jim,

Sorry for the string of emails. You have a great idea of sending toilet paper rolls to Allen but due to logistical issues many of us in the industry may not be able to do so. How about if we start a campaign to collect donations from people from all parts of the world and then have someone in the US buy toilet paper rolls from the collected money and send it to Allen. Your thoughts?

Thanks and regards,

Vivek Srivastava

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Note to readers: Vivek obviously got enthused. If you want to help him out, visit www.paperindex.com.

Jim

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Jim-

I have been a religious follower from the very beginning and with every article you write, your passion for the industry is clearly evident. I thoroughly enjoy your articles, and yes, even those articles that pinpoint our weaknesses, as shameful as some of them may be. I am not as technically paper savvy as many of your readers, consequently I know my brain would occasionally benefit from a scrubber or dropout box, in order to absorb everything that you impart. This particular article really hit the target; no dropout box required. I will be mulling all of the possibilities, both pro and con, all weekend long thinking about the future possible loss of our beloved soft tissue. We all knew that sooner or later the environmentalists would start raising a ruckus, and finally it has happened. I suppose this means that there will very shortly be a famous movie star who will, or has, invented a device to rival the windshield wiper. Can I roll my eyes now?

Cindy Davis

Memphis, Tennessee
USA

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Dear Jim,

Congratulations to your answer at Nip Impressions regarding - once having read those articles at NYT I have decide to open an new category at our website - "Off-key topics".

May I use a copy of your article at our website - of course in the category "best of blogs/articles"?

Many greetings

Markus Sommerauer

Managing Director
Forestindustries.eu
Baeckerberg
Austria

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Yes, in accordance with our copyright policy in the fine print.

Jim

***

Jim,

I have a plan to reduce alleged problems associated with tissue usage.

Everyone has seen the charts that list their ideal weight for their height.

We need a program to ensure that everyone maintains his or her "chart" weight. Ultimately, there would be a reduction in food consumption, which, in turn, would reduce body functions requiring tissue usage.

Here's how it would work.

We begin an annual national weigh-in.

We hire a team of 10,000 federal workers (think economic stimulus) to travel the country to perform the weigh-in.

Everyone 20% over their "chart" weight would be required to purchase carbon credits to offset the increased respiration his/her body is producing.

40% over "chart" weight would require additional carbon credits (likewise with 60%, 80%, 100%, etc.)

The carbon credits would be sold by the government to help offset the cost of administering the program, which, of course, would require an additional 10,000 federal workers. (Ex New York investment bankers would likely have the needed skill set to administer this program.)

Although the weight data would be public, laws would need to be enacted to prevent insurance companies, airlines, and others from implementing weight-based surcharges. Attorneys could be hired to draft this legislation (more economic stimulus).

In the same spirit, we could institute "pet" credits. Although not directly related to tissue usage (unless we could teach our pets better hygiene), these credits could be used to offset carbon dioxide produced by our animal counterparts.

Everyone would be issued 5 pounds of "pet" credits. A family of four could have a twenty pound dog. If they wanted a forty pound dog, they would need to buy credits from a family who was satisfied with a hamster, turtle, or goldfish.

The downside of these programs is reduced food production. This could create a hardship for farmers, food processors, packaging companies, transportation suppliers, and supermarkets. A system of payments and credits would be needed to overcome these hardships. (more economic stimulus?)

So, you see, there's an easy solution to the tissue crisis.

Just some food for thought.

Lance Huebscher

Blandin, Minnesota
USA

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Lance, you keep writing like this, and you'll put me out of work. Re: food for thought--a couple of weeks ago, Saturday Night Live had a (fake) commercial for edible Pampers--maybe that is the way to go.

Jim

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