/PRNewswire/ - A family of four can save two trees this year just by switching to bath tissue and paper towels made from recycled materials instead of virgin trees -- and be budget-friendly. It's a small step, but an important one, according to Marcal Manufacturing CEO Tim Spring: "This Earth Day, our goal is to get people to hit the reset button on their paper purchasing habits and understand how just the smallest of actions can do big things, but needn't cost more."

All Marcal® Small Steps® products -- bath tissue, paper towels, napkins and facial tissue -- are made from 100 percent premium recycled paper with the perfect combination of strength, absorbency and softness, but without the "green premium" often attached to earth friendly brands. In fact, Marcal Small Steps typically sells for less than traditional paper goods that are made by cutting down trees and often contain dyes and fragrances that Marcal doesn't use.

Right to Know Initiative

To help consumers better identify its products and their environmental impact, Marcal Small Steps has added an Environmental Facts panel to the front of each label. Similar to popular nutrition facts panels found on food products, the Environmental Facts label points out what does -- and does not -- go into Marcal Small Steps products.

As part of its new Right to Know initiative, Marcal Small Steps is also introducing a Green Consumer Bill of Rights, a five step checklist to help consumers better understand which products are truly better for the environment and still suit their lifestyles. First and foremost, the Green Consumer Bill of Rights reminds consumers that better for the environment doesn't have to mean worse for the wallet.

The Green Consumer Bill of Rights includes the following, and applies to any product that labels itself green:

I have the right:
(1) To not pay more for a green product.
(2) To demand that a green product perform as promised.
(3) To know how a green product helps the environment.
(4) To understand how a green product is manufactured.
(5) To expect companies to speak plainly and honestly about green issues.

"We are introducing the Green Consumer Bill of Rights because we know how confusing it is to walk the supermarket aisles, trying to distinguish products that are really better for the environment from ones that are using green as a marketing device," Spring continued. "The Bill is our stake in the ground to help consumers navigate their green options. It also reflects the value we know our Marcal Small Steps products deliver to both the environment and the consumer."

Small Steps, Big Impact

Buying kitchen and bath products made from 100 percent recycled paper really makes a difference -- NOW! For instance, if every household in the U.S. replaced one package of traditional toilet paper with Marcal Small Steps, together we could help save nearly one million trees.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says one tree alone produces some 260 pounds of oxygen per year; two mature trees can supply enough oxygen to support a family of four. AmeriFlow Recycling estimates every 17 trees saved helps the earth absorb 250 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

Shockingly, almost 98 percent of the bath tissue, facial tissue, napkin and paper towel options consumers have today are still made from trees.

Celebrating 60 Years

As Earth Day celebrates its 40 birthday, Marcal also passes a milestone. The company is an industrial environmental pioneer, making its own paper from recycled paper for 60 years, saving countless trees and landfill space along the way. Seventy percent of the recycled paper Marcal Small Steps uses -- collected curbside from residential neighborhoods, from small blue baskets in office buildings, unwanted junk mail and printer's waste -- comes from within 150 miles of the company's Elmwood Park, NJ manufacturing facility, minimizing fuel usage and emissions.

About Marcal® Small Steps®

Since 1950, Marcal Paper Mills, LLC (www.marcalsmallsteps.com) products have been made from premium recycled paper. The company is committed to producing high quality, performance paper products at an affordable price. Marcal manufactures paper towels, bath tissue, facial tissue and napkins for home consumption and to distributors for away-from-home use in hotels, restaurants, hospitals, offices, factories, and schools.

Marcal Paper Mills, Inc.

Marcal Paper Mills, Inc.

More from Marcal Paper Mills, Inc.