Today's quick tip is about reducing (or even eliminating) your paper towel use. Paper towels are used only once, and then thrown away. They are not able to be recycled, and therefore end up in landfills where they don't biodegrade because landfill conditions have minimal oxygen and minimal water-- the wrong conditions for degrading materials. In order to make paper towels, companies cut down trees (which reduces climate regulation, habitat, storm protection, and all of the other functions that forests do for us-- for free!). Cutting down trees also requires fossil fuels (to power the machines and to transport the cut trees to the factory) and pollutes our air. Further fossil fuels are required to actually make the paper towels, and more air and water pollution results from the factory level. THEN, the paper towels have to be wrapped in plastic (which is non-biodegradable and polluting to make) and then the paper towels are transported to wherever they are going, using more fossil fuels and producing more pollution along the way.
Instead, how about using old bathroom or kitchen towels that have become too worn to use for their intended purpose. Turn your towels into paper-towel replacements. If you only have nice, un-worn towels at your home, check out your nearest goodwill store. Someone else's old towels will work just as well.
Sure, you do have to launder these towels. But, if you accumulate a good amount of rags, you should only have to wash them every week or so. Wash in cold water with biodegradable detergent, and if you live where the climate will allow, you can even hang outside to dry. The environmental impact of this is considerably less then continual use of paper towels.
We don't even buy paper towels anymore. Old towels are used for cleaning, dog accidents, muddy boots, you name it. We just keep an old kitty-litter bucket in the garage, and store the dirty ones there until it is wash day.
So, go ahead. Re-purpose your old towels and save money and the environment!
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