Is Tissue Paper Biodegradable and Eco-Friendly?
Is tissue paper biodegradabe? Yes, tissue paper is biodegradable and compostable. It’s typically made from wood fibers or recycled material.
Have you ever wondered how much tissue paper we use in a year? It’s estimated we use 255 billion facial tissues a year
With that much being used and thrown away, beyond asking is tissue paper biodegradable, it’s fair to ask the following question. Is tissue paper an eco-friendly product? The fact that it’s biodegradable does indicate it can be eco-friendly, but there are other factors to consider.
Does tissue paper decompose? How long does it take?
Tissue paper decomposes in 30 days on average. Sometimes they can take as long as months to decompose.
Tissue paper can have additives added to them, making them take longer to biodegrade. Kleenex notes their tissue won’t break down as rapidly as toilet paper because of the additive they add to it. Other factors that can influence whether tissue paper can biodegrade are:
- Light
- Air
- Humidity
Is tissue paper recyclable?
According to sanjoserecycles.org, tissue paper is difficult to recycle because it’s made from materials that’s already been recycled. The fibers have been shortened so much it can’t be recycled again.
Is tissue paper toxic? Is it bad for the environment?
Some conventional tissue papers are processed with chlorine bleach. Companies do this for the sake of making the paper white.
The amount of danger it is to our well-being has been a cause for concern. You can read more about this in a Linkedin article titled, “Why Your Toilet Paper is Toxic.” Tissue paper can be damaging to our environment if it ends up in our water, as the chemicals can pollute it.
The other thing to consider is that it does take water and energy to produce tissue paper. In the case of toilet paper rolls, it takes 37 gallons of water to manufacture a single roll of toilet paper.
It takes 17.3 terawatts of electricity as well. Finding an eco-friendly option can help lessen the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being released to produce our tissue paper.
Is there eco-friendly tissue paper?
Thankfully, there are many eco-friendly tissue paper options. Etsy has a list of options available that you might like.
Final thoughts on tissue paper
You’ve probably learned a lot about tissue paper that you didn’t know before. It may feel alarming in some ways but also enlightening as well. Now that you know this information, you can make an informed decision on how to handle your purchase and use of tissue paper.
You can reduce your usage of tissue by making use of a cloth to wipe up spills. After you’ve wiped it up, wash the cloth, and reuse it. It can lessen your financial cost and lessen your usage of energy.
As we use less tissue paper, we can help reduce the 55 pounds of tissue paper that gets thrown away every year. As our demand goes down for the product, companies will hopefully produce less of it, and thus there’s less energy used and less greenhouse gas emissions. Take action today by conserving your tissue paper and help to create a cleaner environment.
