Got this off of EcoGeek this week. This is something we were already aware of, but it’s nice that Greenpeace and the National Resources Defense Council took the time to lay it out all nice and neat for us, the toilet-paper-consuming public.

Plainly said, the average North American’s desire to squeegee their cheeks with the equivalent of a goose-down comforter is causing more ecological damage than all the Hummers on the road combined. That heavenly, pillow-soft bumwad is made from virgin timber, much of it harvested from the old-growth forests of places like British Columbia, Canada.

This is not merely irresponsible; it’s almost literally obscene. Like smearing your waste all over an endangered shorebird before tossing it in the trash.

Greenpeace and the NRDC have put together a handy-dandy little flier (PDF format) you can print out and take with you shopping to help make wiser choices in toilet paper, tissues and paper towels. We managed to learn a little something new from this flier as well. We’ve previously ordered Seventh Generation products, but it turns out that Green Forest is slightly higher in post-consumer waste content, so we will probably move over to that.

And before you ask: no, using these products is not like raking a piece of chipboard across your nethers. It’s not like blotting your bum with a baby harp seal either, but it’s perfectly acceptable for three seconds of dirty work.

So do your part, people: treat your seat with a little less indulgence, and the planet with a little more. Give a shit.