Monday, March 5, 2012

Bye-Bye Paper Towels



This is how our paper towel holder looks these days, because we have finally given up paper towels!  It's weird, because we do so many other eco-friendly (and wallet friendly) things: We use cloth napkins.  We take our own bags to the grocery store.  We recycle compulsively.  Heck, I don't even use plastic bags to scoop the litter boxes!  So why were we still using paper towels?

Sorry, but I have to blame my husband for this one.  For a while now, whenever we ran out of paper towels, I would float the idea of doing without, but he wouldn't go for it.  He agreed to buy only recycled paper towels, but switching to cloth was just out of the question.  Friends of mine suggested a sort of weaning process: Keep the paper towels, but put them somewhere inconvenient. 

So I decided to try it.  The last time we ran out of towels in the kitchen, instead of grabbing a new roll from the basement, I threw a stack of cloth towels on the holder.  I didn't say a word.  To my delight, Gerry ran with it!    


Of course this means more towels in the laundry, but between using homemade detergent and hanging everything to dry that isn't a big deal.  And we have PLENTY of towels!  I can go a long, long time between washes!

4 comments:

Moira said...

Love this idea - might have to incorporate it myself! :)

Fitz said...

Once my sister-in-law/mother of 4 gave up paper towels, I had confidence we could too. Hiding them worked for us as well. I still also keep a roll in the house but have to hunt them down when something's super disgusting... and even then, newspaper works to soak up goop and then a rag finishes it off.

Anonymous said...

Fitz...honestly, they arent hidden...i know exactly where they are! I just chose to give it a try...

Anonymous said...

I have a roll of paper towels, but the only thing I ever use them for is bacon as a rag usually get the job done better anyway.