It's important to keep in mind that government action will be needed to banish global warming and the other environmental threats we face.  However, while individual actions can not completely solve the crisis, they do make some difference.  Hence, the new "Green Tip of the Week" feature on this blog will suggest ways that you can slightly alter your lifestyle to help keep this planet cool and livable.

So, Green Tip #1: stop using disposable facial tissue.  Though many people will find this hard to believe, the human species did, in fact, get along for thousand of years without Kleenex.  And today, the facial tissue industry is one of the most wasteful and environmentally destructive of paper industries.

At least, if you can't bear to give up facial tissues completely, stop using the Kleenex brand itself.  Kleenex makes its tissues by clear-cutting ancient forests in Canada - trees that took hundreds of years to grow are converted into products which are used once and then thrown away.  Many other manufacturers use similar methods.  It is possible to find more sustainable producers, but it's not easy.  Information on how many producers' tissues are made is not readily available.  And besides, it's so much more "green" to just stop using these wasteful products altogether, and make due with a simple cloth handkerchief.  Do your part to stop the destruction of our last great forests - the obliteration of which is a major contributor to global warming.  Stop using disposable facial tissues.