THE GOOD OLD HANKY

Did you know that paper tissues are not made through environmentally safe processing practices? Pulp and paper manufacturing is the third greatest emitter of CO2. Have you ever looked at the list of ingredients on your paper tissue box? You should. And last, but not least, are you aware that not only their plastic packaging, but also the used paper tissues themselves cannot be recycled?

All of this matters, because the first step in the process of making soft tissue paper is creating paper pulp. This can be generated from wood fibre or recycled materials. Apart from the fact that very few are made of the later one, because manufacturers cannot make them soft enough, in both cases, the process requires chopping off trees, which take decades to grow. Deforestation thus not only contributes to global warming, but also causes loss of habitat for plants and animals. Additionally, paper plants use huge amounts of water and electricity and pollute the air and water through chemicals used for bleaching the tissues. The raw materials as well as the finished tissues need to be transported to and from factories via carbon dioxide emitting means of transport. And the final product is a major polluter due to its own and its plastic packaging’s non-recyclable properties.

As if this were not enough, most of the disposable tissues contain nasty ingredients, such as sodium lauryl sulfate, isopropyl palmitate or chlorine. The first one is a foaming agent, known for being an eye and skin irritant with a potential of turning into a carcinogen when combined with other chemicals. Isopropyl palmitate can cause skin irritations, acne or dermatitis when combined with stearyl alcohol, as is often the case in paper tissues. Furthermore, most of the tissues are bleached to make them white, a process that involves the wood being treated with chlorine, a strong corrosive material that will irritate the eyes, skin and the respiratory tract by just inhaling the gasses. In addition, dioxins are formed in the process, proven to cause cancer and are leached into the air and water supply harming not just us, but also plants, animals and the environment.

Yes, you might be able to find recycled, chlorine-free or processed chlorine-free tissues, even packed in paper boxes nowadays, but considering all of the above, we all know that it is still not the ideal solution neither for your health, nor the future of our planet.