Stretching all the away around the world just below the Arctic Circle there is a large boreal forest. It’s been called the Amazon of the North, and the earth’s green crown. It is the largest intact old-growth forest on the planet. Canada alone contains one billion acres from Newfoundland to the Yukon Territory. Three billion birds migrate there to breed. It is the home to countless land mammals including more than six hundred communities of Indigenous people. Unfortunately, it is quite literally being flushed down the toilet.

At the rate of one million acres per year, the logging companies are harvesting the trees for lumber, packaging and paper towels and toilet paper, three-quarters of which is consumed here in the United States. Alternate ingredients such as bamboo and wheat straw are readily available but the conglomerates use the virgin pulp rather these forest-friendly products. None of the major brands contain any recycled content, zero, none.

These large companies live and die by consumer demand, so you can make a difference by not being charmed by cuddly cartoon bears, not purchasing the products sourced from these old-growth trees, and buying sustainable prodnaturucts like Seventh Generation. (For other similar products, please see the referenced article at the end of this one.)

This forest stores more carbon than any other forest biome, and is one of the best natural defenses against climate change. Check out NRDC, the National Resources Defense Council, subscribe to their magazine, NATURE’S VOICE with a donation, and help them in their massive efforts to protect the environment in the courts of the world.

nrdc.org/tissues

nrdc.org/saveboreal

– Larry Berger. HashtagWV #116. August 2019.