My Beef with Holiday Inn and Kleenex

The Holiday Inn has a "One Person can all the difference in the world" cards in the rooms. They have small laminated cards outlining their earth-friendly practices that is translated into 3 other languages which is a nice touch. Kudos to them for trying.

They are following guidelines from www.projectplanetcorp.com 1/recycling paper, aluminum, cardboard; 2/ look for opportunities to buy more environmentally friendly products; 3/ provide smoke-free rooms; 4/ use less toxic cleaning products; 5/ change linens less frequently; 6/ encourage use of water saving devices.

So let's pick on number two - a very important one. I hope they fix the following.

My main beef: The toilet paper and the tissue paper in the Holiday Inn. Would you use a 1,000 or 100 year-old tree to blow your nose? Well, you may have if you've been using Kleenex, or any of the other brands distributed by parent company Kimberly Clark. And that includes Scott bathroom tissue and Kleenex. Think about how long 100 years really is - longer than most of us will live! And you want to know why the fuss - check out the following.

www.kleercut.net

Now if you have seen the headlines you know the general gist: Kleenex - stop
using materials from trees cut from North America's largest ancient forest — the
Boreal forest that stretches from Alaska through Canada. (There are plenty of
alternatives).

Feb. 12, 2007 - This morning, four activists locked themselves together with chaings inside Kimberly-Clark’s Canadian headquarters in Toronto. They announced that they would stay put until K-C’s Vice President of Environment, Ken Strassner, agreed to meet with Greenpeace.

Associated Press - HOUSTON, Texas — It might be more difficult to find a Kleenex on the Rice University campus in the near future. Students have persuaded campus officials to quit buying Kleenex products.... in favour of those that include recycled material.....

I'm happy to use my towels and bed lines a few days in a row. And frankly the number of pillows on my beds can be reduced but I know the visual appeal is important - especially to so many people who travel on their own. But please don't let me blow my noses on ancient forests! (And I know this is rather disgusting to many but I travel with my own hanky so you might want to consider this).