The paper towel dilemma

Welcome back to Friday's IOTUS (Instead Of This, Use This). If you're looking for Vinegar Friday, you'll have to stop back on the first Friday of the month or just browse through my old VF posts. Let me assure you -- there are plenty of them!

Did you ever count how many paper towels you throw away each week? If not, I challenge you to do so this coming week. If you're like most people, it's quite a few.

Several years ago, we stopped using paper towels except for the occasional need to clean up cat puke. What do we use instead? Rags. Stained tea towels. Old washcloths. We keep a selection of them in the cabinet under the sink and simply toss them in the rag hamper when we're done cleaning up a mess. It's just one more way to cut back on disposable products in our home, which saves trees and limits the amount of trash our family contributes to the landfills. 

But paper towels aren't that big of an issue, are they?

Well, let's look at some stats and then decide. According to Nate Lipka, writing for the Earth911.com, "13 billion pounds of paper towels are used in the U.S. every year." Whoa! That's a lot of paper towels! He continues, "If all Americans used one less paper towel a day, 571,230,000 pounds of paper would be spared over the course of the year."

So, what would happen if every home limited their paper towel use to occasional rather than daily? The statistics would be staggering!

But what about drying your hands when you're out in public and your only option is paper towels? Check out this short video for the solution. It's all about shake and fold. Watch and discover how you can help with the solution rather than contributing to the problem. Instead of this, use/do this.




Sharing eco-friendly solutions,

 

The paper towel challenge

I am not a fan of paper towels. Except when messes like this occur:

Yummy. What a way to start the day ... thanks to my cat Theo. At least it wasn't on the couch or braided rug.

So I opened the cupboard door and pulled out the rarely used paper towels, and was thankful I had them. Of course, they are the ones made of 100% recycled paper, but I still felt a slight tinge of guilt using so many -- this really was a mess!

There are people I know who use lots and lots of paper towels every day and never even give it a thought. Even before I decided to eliminate as many disposable products as possible from my home, I still didn't use an excessive amount. After all, they were expensive ... at the least the ones I bought -- you know, the fancy ones to match my Mary Engelbreit kitchen. Imagine how excited I was when I discovered the Engelbreit line of paper towels on the grocery store shelf one day! Pathetic.

How did I break my paper towel habit? Well, it started in the mind -- all I had to do was think of the sheer wastefulness and I was convinced pretty quickly that I had to find an alternative. And the alternative was easy! Rags. Old washclothes. Cut up stained handtowels. I stacked them under my sink for easy access and put a little lidded trashcan in the corner of the kitchen. When there's a mess, I wipe it up and throw the rag in the "hamper." Often, I rinse the rag and hang it over the top rack of the dishwasher. It's an out of the way, yet convenient, spot.

My challenge for you today, as a new year draws near, is to rethink your position on paper towels. Use less. Put them in a less convenient place, so family members don't just grab them for every little thing. Reserve them for messes like the one I woke up to.

It's an easy and earth-friendly thing to do. And with the rising cost of groceries, it's kind on your budget as well!

Keeping it green,

Hana