unvegan paper products?

[journey]

Just wondering - are there paper products that might not be vegan? I mean I know things like sanitary pads might be tested on animals, but any other paper products to watch out for? Toilet paper, kleenex, paper plates, paper towels - anything like that? Would they test these things on animals?

[lilac wine]

i heard there's freakin' WHEY in seventh generation paper towels. whey! how stupid is that?

[LetoTheTyrant]

i heard there's freakin' WHEY in seventh generation paper towels. whey! how stupid is that?

proof, link??

i find that hard to believe

[L2Lulu]

Seventh Generation admits that the recycling plant they use as a source for their paper towels uses whey in the recycling process. It is apparently not unusual -- whey removes the gummy substance found on envelopes and post-it notes.

Check out more info about it at FoodFight's blog here, including Patent details on the process AND a letter from Seventh Generation's Consumer Relations itself:
http://www.foodfightgrocery.com/2008/02/seventh-generation-paper-towels-not.html

and a post on my own blog here:
http://animals.l2-lulu.com/wpmu/2008/02/22/no-way-why-whey/

[LetoTheTyrant]

So I've contacted Whole Foods ( I used to work there ), they said they would have someone get me the information and I'll post it up here. Does anyone know if there is another recycled brand that doesn't use whey?

Does seventh generation have no recycled towels that would not have used this whey?

[megbot]

I have their unbleached papertowels, but only use less than a roll a month for my guinea pigs to play with. I'll refrain from buying them in the future, though understand their stance.

A big solution to this is to get a whole lot of bar towels and stop using paper towels all together :) see: http://greenmarmalade.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/my-towels-have-arrived/

just my two cents. Thank you for the heads up on this, this is one place I'd never think twice about. I'll let my local health market know as well, all the people that work there are vegan.

[LetoTheTyrant]

A big solution to this is to get a whole lot of bar towels and stop using paper towels all together :) see: http://greenmarmalade.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/my-towels-have-arrived/.

When I am using a towel to clean in the kitchen it needs to look clean, so while I do regularly use bar towels, i find myself throwing them away more than I would like because they become so 'dirty' looking

[Sallie-Veggie]

I'm not sure what a "bar towel" is, but I rarely use paper towels (I've been using the same rolls since maybe February).... If you keep clean kitchen towels available and put the paper towels under the sink where you have to work hard to get them it's easy... I also started using all cloth napkins (my new years resolution) and I haven't purchased any paper napkins since then...

For my "rags" I cut up old, well used bath towels... These I use for washing bathroom counter tops, windows, dusting...

[Matthew]

A lot of art paper has been treated with gelatin.

Arches watercolor paper for example goes through a gelatin bath.

Some safe vegan papers include a few types from Canson, Strathmore 500 series, and there is a plastic brand of watercolor 'paper' (I forget the name, but it's crazy and helps produce some unreal looking textures.)

There are some things we just have to deal with, like receipts... I'm guessing they're fine, but you never know. They might have some kind of animal glue in them. Scan them and burn them.

[LetoTheTyrant]

There are some things we just have to deal with, like receipts...

I think the problem is that we shouldn't have to deal with these things.it's unneccessary

[Matthew]

I think the problem is that we shouldn't have to deal with these things.it's unneccessary

I agree, but if someone hands you a receipt, can you expect a serious answer if you ask them, "What brand of receipt paper is this?"

"Generic whole sale."

Good luck finding out if there's anything bad in it or the ink.

That's why it's best to just steal everything, so you never have to deal with pesky receipts...

Just kidding.

[LetoTheTyrant]

I agree, but if someone hands you a receipt, can you expect a serious answer if you ask them, "What brand of receipt paper is this?"

"Generic whole sale."

Good luck finding out if there's anything bad in it or the ink.

That's why it's best to just steal everything, so you never have to deal with pesky receipts...

Just kidding.

i like that. I just always ask the person there to please recycle it for me, unless I actually need it for something (I'll admit I wouldn't ask), but I think asking more people to recycle receipts will get them recycled.

[hoodedclawjen]

i like that. I just always ask the person there to please recycle it for me, unless I actually need it for something (I'll admit I wouldn't ask), but I think asking more people to recycle receipts will get them recycled.

i think they quite like you to have a reciept as you leave so you can show and they can see (with a reasonable degree of doubt) that you haven't stolen an item- especially if you don't have it in the stores own plastic carrier bag. i keep mine until i get home, cos otherwise if they stopped me, it'd be a pain, and they might have to go into the computer system, or check cctv, or whatever.

but i do recycle them myself at home- they go through the two way shredder first, or get made into a nice soggy ball of unreadable mush. that way i know that they definately got recycled and not thrown into the general trash box that lurks under the cash register and then into the garbage, and that nobody motivated to root about in rubbish has bits of my bank card info and a copy of my signature.

[LetoTheTyrant]

i think they quite like you to have a reciept as you leave so you can show and they can see (with a reasonable degree of doubt) that you haven't stolen an item- especially if you don't have it in the stores own plastic carrier bag. i keep mine until i get home, cos otherwise if they stopped me, it'd be a pain, and they might have to go into the computer system, or check cctv, or whatever.

Normally when you are walking away from a register where it appears that you obviously paid, no one will ask you a question, and if they do just walk back to the cashier and say "hey did I just walk through your line?"


but i do recycle them myself at home- they go through the two way shredder first, or get made into a nice soggy ball of unreadable mush. that way i know that they definately got recycled and not thrown into the general trash box that lurks under the cash register and then into the garbage, and that nobody motivated to root about in rubbish has bits of my bank card info and a copy of my signature.

I only use cash, so I don't have this problem. I do understand that a lot of the time they probably go into the trash in the chain stores, but if they never hear it they'll never think about?!?!

[LetoTheTyrant]

im talking to seventh generation right now.

I spoke with a man named sestin and he has confirmed that yes they actually do use whey in their recycled paper products. He claims they have been trying to find an alternative but to date they have not found one.

He said his paper guy was on the ball, so this begs the question are ALL recycled paper products produced using whey (???!?!!!?!) We both guessed yes, since they would probably be using the method if it was known.

Then beyond this is it better to use vegan virgin papers, or non-vegan recycled papers!!

Has anyone spoken to any other recycled paper companies about their recycling processes?

--sorry for the double post, but they were two completely different things.

[Rani]

Well, this info is distressing. I'm having a party this Saturday night and was planning to buy Seventh Gen recycled paper plates but now I'm not so sure I want to do that. Obviously it would not be vegan to buy them knowing that they use whey but being the environmentalist that I am, I would prefer to buy a recycled product. But then again, I have no idea if non-recycled paper plates are vegan. Damn. I wish I had enough regular reusable plates for my party.