It’s Enviro-Mama Thursday here on Strocel.com, and today I’m taking aim at paper towels. It’s my One Green Thing for May. But before I get into that, I want to update you on my One Green Thing for April, which was eating less meat. Specifically, my goal was to eat meat no more than once per day (although leftovers got a pass). So, how did I do?
I was very successful at the once per day meat rule, on the the whole. I even managed to swing a completely meat-free day at least once a week for most of the month. There were two times I fell down though:
- While I was out of town for the weekend, I ended up splitting a meat-covered pizza with my husband for lunch, and then eating meat again at dinner. Oops.
- I had poutine for lunch one day, and then engaged in a long personal debate with myself about whether or not gravy is meat. My final verdict is that yes, it probably is, so that was another day when I ate meat twice.
Still, I consumed less than 30 servings of meat during the month of April, so I would call it a success. Now on to my goal for May, which is getting rid of paper towels in my home.
Paper is made using renewable resources. It’s also biodegradable and recyclable. However, this does not mean that it’s without environmental impact. Paper towels are no exception. In the US, 2% of landfill mass is taken up by paper towels. Plus there’s the carbon footprint of harvesting trees and turning them into paper towels, wrapping them in plastic, and delivering them to you. Even buying paper towels made from recycled paper has an impact. If I could find a reusable alternative to paper towels, I would be reducing my environmental impact.
Years ago, we stopped using paper napkins, and switched to cloth. Our cloth napkins have lasted us about a decade, and they’re still going strong. It seems to me that we should be able to do the same thing for paper towels. I already use tea towels in situations that I used to use paper towels, and that works well. Or, at least, it works well most of the time. But there are still situations when you need something a little more absorbent than a tea towel. When I was shopping at Whole Foods, some sponge cloths caught my eye, and I thought they might fit the bill. The package even said that “one sponge cloth outlasts 17 rolls of paper towels”. I was sold.
I’ve packed my paper towels away, and this month I will see how well I can get along without them. Will the sponge cloth and tea towel combo work to fill the void? I’ll be sure to report back and let you know.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear your tips for ditching paper towels. Have you done it? What substitutes do you use for wet and sticky messes? Share your tips in the comments!
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Twitter: mustang_sabby
says:
I have no idea how I would do without paper towels. We already do ten loads of laundry a week, and my husband is the. messiest. person. ever. in the kitchen. Once thing we do try and do is compost or recycle yon paper towels when we have finished wiping up with them instead of throwing them in the garbage. I choose an already recycled container from our inside bin (milk jug, jar etc) and just stuff them in there until it is full. When we sort, they get yanked out and tossed in the paper bin and off they go to be recycled!
I’ve wanted to go paper towel free in our house, but the look of horror I get from my husband means doing so might poke the bear too far. So we try and use less.
Caroline’s last post … Wordless Wednesday
I use tea towels or for a big spill I use one of the too-little bath towels. If we had extra paper napkins when we had a meal at a fast food place, I used to leave them on the table for the next people, but then I noticed that when the employees go around wiping the tables, they throw away the unused napkins anyway, so I take them with me now. I feel like a crazy person doing it, but it’s so wasteful to just throw them away unused. The result is that I usually have some napkins on hand if there’s a mess thats just too gross for a reusable cloth. Another good thing to keep around is old stained/ripped t-shirts… if it’s going to go in the garbage anyway, it may as well have been used during an oil change on the car or to clean dog poop off of shoes first, right?
I know that I can find substitutes for paper towels for cleaning purposes, but I’m afraid to admit that I use them for microwave cooking. When I heat turkey bacon and potatoes in the microwave, I layer paper towels in between the bacon strips and wrap the potatoes individually in paper towels. Of course, I could use the stove top and oven to “fry”/bake these as well.
But if I do use the microwave… any suggestions?
Rebecca B’s last post … Sunday Surf: April 22-28
We have almost managed to get rid of them. The ripped up t shirts are our pile of “rags” that get used lots and washed up hot like socks.underwear, sheets…
But, the big one that I still need paper towels for: raw meat. I am just not willing to risk using a rag and having bacterial or mold problems. Perhaps if I could toss them all right into the washer, but that doesn’t work in our house.
Now that we have city composting, at least the bloody paper towel goes into the compost!
Twitter: ourconnections
says:
I use my Norwex cloth for everything! We always spill stuff at our place. We use the cloth to wipe up the mess, rise, then everything is a-okay again =)
Amy Lee’s last post … a mother’s letter: a letter to my daughter
Twitter: Apartment_Mama
says:
Ugh, we are all paper towels up in here. For spills and routine cleaning we dig out our Costco supply of the white rolls. I’d love a green alternative that also kept the build up of grime and bacteria at bay.. I do wonder about dish cloths sometimes and the germ quotient.
Mama in the City’s last post … It’s A Milestone, Baby!
I’ve never been a paper towel or paper napkin user. Cloth napkins all the way (even for Theo) and for messes, clothes, sponges, tea towels . I just have a lot of them and there’s always room in the laundry for them.
harriet Fancott’s last post … Fear and joy: the adoption visit
We have Norwex cloths as well and I even ordered a fancy / expensive MOP. I’m serious about mops.
harriet Fancott’s last post … Fear and joy: the adoption visit
Twitter: JnJGoGreen
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I made my own from old t-shirts!
Jen’s last post … 4 weeks
Twitter: torturedpotato
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Paper towels are one thing I’ve never bought / used so I never have to give them up. But tea towels are USELESS for mopping spills. Useless. Worse than useless. The thing I use the most is: cloth diapers. I still have about 30 pre-fold diapers that haven’t been used for excrement (and even then, only infant excrement) in probably three years but those things suck up water like .. like.. like a sponge! I would use them as tea towels too except now that I use them for cleaning they are kind of stained and not nearly as pretty as a (worse than useless) teatowel. Seriously, what are tea towels for anyway. I use mine as tea cozies and they work okay for that. But nothing to do with absorbency.
I am deeply curious about your experience with the whole foods sponge, and it seems like everybody is doing Norwex now so I could try Norwex as well. But for those regular, “mommy I spilled the juice” “clean it up yourself, Jr” times? Cloth diaper it, baby.
Twitter: RachaelNevins
says:
I look forward to hearing how this change goes for you. Two percent of the content of landfills, eh? Sounds like a change we have to make around here.
I like the pre-fold suggestion and would like to hear how your sponges work out. How many did you buy?
And maybe we can start with cloth napkins. I’ve been slow to buy them, simply because we don’t usually put out paper napkins with our meals, anyway. But it’s getting to the point where we really do need napkins — we often end up bringing out the paper towels to clean up spills and such. How many cloth napkins does a family of four (two bigs, two littles) need?
Rachael’s last post … It’s My Birthday! I’m One Hundred Years Old!
Twitter: AmberStrocel
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The sponge cloths came in a three-pack. So far, that’s really more than enough.
Twitter: thejaninefowler
says:
Strangely, cutting paper towels was the EASIEST eco-friendly move we made. I thought the husband would have trouble with it, but as soon as we bought a bunch of cute rags, we were both on board and never back-pedaled on it. I was really surprised with myself! If there is a situation where I HAVE to use paper, I save takeout napkins in a drawer. They give them to you whether or not you ask, so I feel it’s a free pass.
Janine’s last post … Honestly Loving The Honest Co.