Monday, November 9, 2009

Diary of an American Shopper - Day 4

Diary of an American Shopper - Day 4

Below is an email inquiry to Seventh Generation...

Hi. I've been a loyal customer of your products for years. In fact, I've turned other people on to your eco-friendly New England based company. Recently, I've started this experiment to see if I can purchase things that are only made in the USA. I was excited that I could continue purchasing Seventh Generation, and you became my go-to company! However, as I was restocking my toilet paper, I noticed that it now says Made in Canada. I checked my dish detergent, my garbage bags, my cleaning supplies and my paper towels - all say Made in the USA. I'm wondering what caused you to move the production of the TP to Canada? Thank you for your time. Alicia Arinella

So - that was not a nice way to start my day. I will let you know what Seventh Generation says in response, but I'm left with the question - what am I going to do about Toilet Paper?

On their roll it even says - You are Making a Difference.
If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 500 sheet virgin fiber, bathroom tissue with 100% recycled ones, we could save:
-423,900 trees
-1.0 million cubic feet of landfill space, equal to 1,600 full garbage trucks
-153 million gallons of water, a year's supply for 1,200 families of four

And I'm torn - is it better to support our economy and perhaps hurt the environment? Years ago, I had made the decision to shop Green. Purchasing products that are better for the environment. Honestly,it took me a while - Seventh Generation isn't as soft as Charmin that's for sure, but my Mom stocked our house at an early age, and I got used to it. We've all heard the statistics, and I'm trying to be more conscious about my waste and run off, so I want to be more eco-friendly. But with this new challenge, what do I do? Luckily - I still have a few rolls left over before I really need to answer that question for myself. By then, hopefully, Seventh Generation will have replied or I will have been able to find another suitable replacement.

I mark Day 4 enlightening but troubling.

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