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BANG FOR THE BITE
Making the change to recycled paper towels is easy - it’s finding the 100% recycled that can be a little challenging.
COCKTAIL FACT
Water moves up through paper towels by the force of attraction between the paper fibers and the water, a force called capillary action.
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home › tip library › Recycled Paper Towels
Is There A Greener Quicker Picker-Upper?
The Bite
Over 90% of American households use paper towels, creating over 3,000 tons of waste each day. Switching to recycled roll paper towels can help cut down on all this trash.The Benefits
- If every household in the US replaced one roll of non-recycled paper towels with a roll of 100% recycled paper towels, we would save 864,000 trees and 3.4 million cubic feet of landfill space.
- For every ton of 100% recycled paper that is bought, about 4000kWh of energy and 7,000 gallons of water are saved. It also avoids releasing 60 lbs of pollutants into the air.
- Roll towels combined with controlled-use dispensers save paper by 25 to 35%, and require less packaging than stand-alone rolls or folded towels.
Personally Speaking
We both try to use cotton or linen reusable towels as often and possible, and use Seventh Generation’s paper towels whenever we reach for the paper stuff.Wanna Try?
- Look for towels that boast no less than a 40% post-consumer waste content and don’t use a whole lot of packaging.
- Choose unbleached paper towels first, process chlorine-free (PCF) second, and elemental chlorine-free (ECF) third.
- Seek items having the largest amount of product (higher square footage).
- Seventh Generation- 100% post-consumer recycled paper towels ($7.95/4 rolls).
- Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value and Planet – 100% recycled (80% by consumers), PCF, and available at a store near you.
Jan 31,2006
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All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
Paper Towels
They are a blessing and a curse. For example, when the Crick throws up after snacking from the cat box buffet, I definitely use papertowels so I can throw the whole handful in the trash. But if you have them out in an easy to reach area, you reach for them instead of dishtowels that could have sufficed for cleaning up the water splashes after watering the plants.
My Mom, whom we call Poopsie for some unknown reason, has always "hid" the papertowels, which I now do.
And I always look for the Bounty papertowels that allow you to break off the sheets in quarters, if I can't find affordable / absorbent green versions wherever I may be living.
Off to put the litter box up where she can't reach... shouldn't be hard... her legs are literally 6 inches.. I just measured... lol - Jen
Biter Comments...
Personally, I gave up paper towles 16 years ago - and I don't miss them one little bit (except when I am feeling lazy ;o)
Instead of using paper towles I have a stash of cloths used only for spills that paper towels would have been used for (and, I use them for cleaning too). Yes, I have to sanatize them, launder them, and fold them, but ultimately I feel good about not using paper. One tiny way that I can save the planet in my own back yard ;o)
I've cut way down on paper towel consumption and am still transitioning to rags. In this case, old t-shirts, old socks, old dishtowels, and even old sheets and tablecloths cut up. It gets challenging when my cats are being pukey pukersons, but I remind myself that this is how my grandma did things.
And I've found that we make fewer messes for some reason, needing to be wiped up, since I nixed the paper towels as an 'only the last resort' cleaning solution (and yes, this means putting them someplace where it is a PITA getting to them). Cool coincidink.
Isn't it true that some brands of recycled paper towels have bits of aluminum in them? At least I seem to remember that from a book I read once on composting, saying not to put recycled towels in the heap. Maybe I've gotten it confused, though?
I've been keen on the Marcal paper products for a while now. Many of the products feature the "paper from paper, not from trees" logo, though not all of them so it takes a second more screening before purchasing. They generally cost $.99 each, making them easier on my budget than Seventh Generation and somewhat more palatable for the planet than Bounty which is also available for the same price. Marcal also has toilet paper and facial tissues made from paper, ranging from $.69-$.99 apiece. The cloth approach sounds great too...perhaps someday, several bites from now, I'll be at that stage too! :)
I don't think we ever used paper towels in our house, just cloths and rags. When something icky needs to be picked/mopped up, we use old newspapers.
Old cloth is softer and more effective than paper, exc. for broken glass. I buy bunches of napkins from thrift stores to give my grown kids. They're attractive and easy on skin and hands and more absorbent, esp. w/o fabric softener. The cloths start with faces and work their way down in use until they're polishing furniture and shoes. At $1 or $2.50 for five to a dozen, you can't beat the price.
In addition to Whole Foods, you can also check your local Trader Joe's. They carry recycled 7th generation paper products cheaper I think.
oh well it depends, I've seen people confidently using paper towels while some only use it for guests or if they are somewhere outside. I personally do not like paper usage this much. Some one said rightly above that cloth or rug can be a better use rather a paper towel.
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Yeah, old cloth or rug is more effective. I've been using it for a long time.
fairings
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Adam Schlachter | January 31, 2006 at 07:53 AM