how do you reduce paper towels

Six Ways to Reduce Paper Towel Consumption: Reuse at Home and Save Money

• Use cloth napkins and towels: Next time you host a dinner, do not place a box of paper napkins on the table. Instead, place cloth napkins. ...
• Use a sponge: In the event there is a spill on the table or kitchen counter, use a sponge to soak it up. You can then clean the area with a cloth napkin.

Full Answer

How to clean up after dinner?

My go to method for cleaning up after dinner used to be to spray down the kitchen counters with counter stop spray and then go to town with wads of paper towels. Instead, get a dish cloth nice and soapy with warm water, wipe down all your surfaces, dry off with a kitchen towel and then rinse and hang your kitchen cloth to dry. This gets your countertops nice and clean and is a sturdier way to get off any pieces of caked on food remains—real cloth scrubs much better than paper towels. If you want to disinfect or treat your counters after, spray away and then wipe off with a fresh towel. Since you've gotten off all the dirty bits before this part, the towel you use to rub in your spray can be used a few times before washing.

Do you need a bin for paper towels?

I got a bin from Target that fits under the sink to throw dirty towels so I didn't have to run towels to the hamper in our room. Any bin will do. Just make sure there are holes in the sides so that the towels can air out a little to prevent them from getting moldy.

1. Make Some Rags

How did our great-grandparents keep their homes tidy without endless reams of paper towels at their disposal? They used whatever dust cloths they had on hand and washed them with soap and water when they grew filthy.

2. Go Bamboo

Bamboo is getting some excellent press lately for its eco-friendliness, and all of it is deserved. This hardy plant requires no fertilizer, keeping harmful chemicals out of soil and waterways. It isn’t a tree — rather, it’s a fast-growing grass that’s self-replacing.

3. Repurpose Packaging

Some manufacturers are heeding the sustainability call and wrapping their wares in packaging you can reuse. If you order many of your household products online, seek out vendors who use soft, pliable cardboards such as those used for padded mailers. This substance will absorb spills and dry before it’s time to run to the recycling center.

4. Use Cloth Napkins

Maybe you thought that cloth napkins were the exclusive reserve of 4-star restaurants. Please dismiss that idea — how do you think people wiped their faces in the days before loggers felled trees for that express purpose?

5. Reuse Unpaper Cotton Towels

You might have noticed reusable cloth “unpaper” towels on your grocery store shelves — although you can also DIY. These nifty products come from cotton, not trees, keeping more of the tall green wonders standing to convert the carbon in the atmosphere to life-sustaining oxygen.

6. Do Some Kitchen Remodeling

Please don’t fret over this suggestion. There’s no need for you to rip out your cabinetry to use less paper towels.

Use Less Paper Towels With These 6 Tips

Reducing your resource consumption is one ideal way of decreasing your carbon footprint. Use less paper towels with the six above tips.

How to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Paper Towel Usage?

While it is clear that paper towels are not the best for those wanting to live with less waste, the good news is that paper towels are, for the most part, entirely optional. There are many viable alternatives to traditional paper towels that will still help you wipe, dry, and clean without all the negative impacts on the environment.

What Is the Carbon Footprint of Paper Towels?

The pulp industry accounts for about 0.5% of total CO2 emissions in the U.S. [3] According to one study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), using two standard cotton paper towels from a roll to dry your hands will have a carbon footprint of just over 15 grams of CO2. On a nationwide scale, those few grams can begin to add up with Americans using around 13 billion pounds of towels annually—that’s equivalent to throwing out 270 million trees every year! [4]

What to do instead of throwing away paper?

Instead of throwing paper away, consider reusing it. There are a lot of ways you can reuse paper. Some good ideas are:

How to avoid using paper?

To avoid using more paper, list your activities on a word processor on a computer or smartphone.

How does paper waste help the environment?

In addition, it will reduce water and land pollution. Reducing paper waste is one major contribution you can easily make to protecting our environmental resources.

How much energy does recycling paper save?

Recycling only one ton of paper will save 13 trees, 26,500 litres of water, 2.5 barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatts per hour of electricity! Paper can also reasonably be recycled five to seven times before getting thrown away.

Why is recycled paper good for the environment?

Using recycled paper means cutting down fewer trees, therefore helping the environment. Recycled paper, in some instances, costs less since less energy is required to recycle paper than to make some from raw material.

Can you reuse paper napkins?

A lot of paper is wasted every year on things like paper towels and napkins. Switching to reusable versions, such as cloth napkins, can keep plenty of paper from being wasted. You can use cloth napkins for things like cleaning up messes , and they can also be washed and reused.

Is it bad to take notes on paper?

Taking paper notes can use up a lot of paper, which may be harmful to the environment. Instead, use a computer or your smartphone. You could use a sticky note tool, note app, or word processor to do this.

What is the best material to use for paper towels?

The best material to look for is sustainably made cotton, hemp, or bamboo. Most of these can be used for many years, through multiple cleanings and rinses, and they dry easily. Though they require the added work of laundering, minimal use of water and non-toxic soap can help reduce consumption and waste.

Why are towels unfit for recycling?

There are two main reasons why these products are unfit for the recycle bin: the manufacturing process and contamination of the product itself. Before the towels get to a store shelf, they are processed in such a way that the makeup of the paper material they started out as changes entirely. Then, once they're in our homes ...

Why should paper towels be tossed in the compost?

Toxic additives such as glues, resins, and softeners are often introduced into the paper fibers to help with strength, texture, and absorption, not to mention inks and bleach for coloring. This is why even clean paper towels should be tossed in the compost or trash instead of the recycling bin.

Can you put paper towels in the compost bin?

As long as they were only used for food, most of the time, they can be tossed into the compost bin. Sometimes, certain non-toxic cleansers and plant-based sprays still allow for composting. The list below offers several options to use in place of paper towels.

Can you use paper towels to wash mirrors?

When it comes to washing glass surfaces and mirrors, many people often turn to paper towels first. They come in endless supply and those convenient squares rip off easily for multiple jobs. However, newspapers can work just as well, if not better, for getting streaks and spots off those surfaces.

Can you compost brown paper towels?

Or cut into smaller pieces and see if you can extend the life of the roll. If you must, choose the unbleached brown towels that can be composted. As long as they were only used for food, most of the time, they can be tossed into the compost bin. Sometimes, certain non-toxic cleansers and plant-based sprays still allow for composting. The list below offers several options to use in place of paper towels.

How do paper towels affect your environmental impact?

It would also significantly lower our environmental impact, which was something we were looking to improve upon in the kitchen and in the realm of household products, in general.

What is the cost of regularly buying paper towels?

Unfortunately, the paper towel industry is alive and well in the U.S. In 2017, according to The Atlantic, Americans spent about $5.7 billion on paper towels. That same year, it was estimated that every American spent an average $17.50 on paper towels, which definitely adds up — especially if you're buying new rolls once a month. Think about it: that could amount to more than $200 annually.