My paper towel addiction
Posted by: Sarah on November 13th, 2008
Friends, I must come clean.
I have a dirty secret. Things aren’t all tofu and organic cotton over here. It seems I have a slight addiction to paper towels, as I’m pretty sure I go through more daily on my own than the average 4-person American family.
In fact, I might be the sole reason the rainforests are disappearing. (I’ll have to do some research and get back to you.)
It’s just that paper towels are so perfect for small jobs, such as little spills, cleaning off my toddler’s icky face and drying my hands. In the past, I haven’t been a fan of using an all-purpose cloth towel in the kitchen. Seriously, who KNOWS what germs are lurking in a 3-day-old kitchen towel? No matter how hard I try, I can’t persuade myself to use a damp kitchen towel on my son’s face. Gross.
For the sake of argument, let’s say I did use cloth towels for all of my kitchen clean-up needs. I can promise you, I would use several at the same time for different purposes. What happens then? I would need to wash the towels more often, thus running the washing machine and dryer more often, using more water and electricity. Is that still better than using paper towels? Good question. At least the paper towels we use are 100% recycled with 80% post-consumer content, but I still don’t feel like I’m doing as much as I should.
I recently purchased Method’s All-Purpose wipes** during a trip to Target. Made of 100% bamboo and touted as “people, planet and surface friendly,” these wipes could be the answer to all my problems. According to INBAR**, while a 60-foot wood tree can take 60 years to replace, a 60-foot bamboo plant takes only 59 days to replace**. In essence, I would still be able to use new wipes as needed, but wouldn’t have to worry about contributing to the destruction of more wood trees.
What about you? Have you tried to reduce the paper towel usage in your home? I’d love to hear your solutions.
**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.
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[...] 1. It’s not all tofu and hemp over here. I’ve finally admitted to my paper towel addiction. [...]
I’ve quit the paper towels COLD TURKEY. I used them for everything. It was getting utterly out of control.
I ordered bar mops: http://www.raglady.com (or any restaurant supply), keep them in a cute basket on the kitchen counter, and keep a plastic bin under the sink to throw them in after use (and easy transfer to the wash). I use them for everything that I would have used paper towels for before… it’s working out great!