The Bite:
Yep. Next time your kitchen counter's wet, reach for a cloth instead of a paper towel. You'll save a lotta paper - including the small, green kind that fits in your wallet.
Can a bundle of rags save you a bundle?
09.28.2007
Submitted by tmeronek on Fri, 09/28/2007 - 12:01am.
The Benefits:
- Rolling in the dough. Or at least a little of it: If your household uses a roll of paper towels per week, you could save more than $100 per year by switching to dishcloths and tea towels.
- Less mess. Americans send 3,000 tons of paper towels to landfills each day.
- Safer sopping up. To make paper towels white, many producers use chlorine bleaching, which releases cancer-causing toxins into the environment.
- More substance. Cotton tea towels are thicker and can hold more H20 than paper quicker picker-uppers.
Personally Speaking:
We've never been the types to use worn-out undies as rags, so we're glad to have the different reusable options below.
Wanna Try:
- Organic Cotton Tea Towels - naturally dyed organic-cotton dishcloths made in North America ($20-$28).
- Twist Euro Cloths - superabsorbent, reusable, biodegradable cloth you can throw in the dishwasher ($6/3 cloths).
- Seventh Generation Paper Towels - if you gotta use paper towels, go with non-chlorine bleached and 100% recycled ($2).
- Natural Resources Defense Council Shopper's Guide - find out how much recycled content is in the paper towels you use.
- DIY Bite: Knit your own damn dishcloth.
Cocktail Fact
Eww! Last year, a couple in MA sued Frito-Lay when they found a bloody paper towel inside a bag of Munchies Cheese Fix Mix chips.
Bang For The Bite
It's true, paper towels are way convenient, but if 10,000 Biters who use a roll per week switch to rags, in a year we'll save the weight of 2,340,000 tea towels in paper.
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