The University of Florida has removed Kleenex brand tissues in its campus stores because they are made with virgin fiber, much of which is sourced from the North American Boreal forest--one of our last remaining ancient forests.
“The removal of Kimberly-Clark products from our university is a strong sign that the company is not producing an environmentally sound product,” said Alex Klein, UF junior and student activist. “Kimberly-Clark claims to be an environmentally responsible company, but it uses wood pulp that is clearcut from the Boreal to make throwaway products like tissues and toilet paper. The University of Florida showed that universities can use their purchasing power to demand that Kimberly-Clark use recycled paper and stop wiping away ancient forests for disposable paper products.”
”UF already has an environmentally-progressive procurement policy and therefore we do not purchase Kimberly-Clark products on campus. I plan to continue to educate people individually about the Kleercut campaign and set a good example through my own actions,” said Klein.
Kimberly-Clark is the target of a growing number of university campaigns across the country because of the company’s continuing forest destruction. University of Florida is the 12th university or college to take action against Kimberly-Clark due to concerns about the company’s clearcutting practices and low use of post-consumer recycled content.
