Bye Bye Paper Towels
This little guy here was once a Rancho Auto Parts shirt. Today, he has been re-born as a rag. This is the first of many rags we’re making to phase out paper towels. Paper towels are convenient, but is the convenience worth the number of trees felled, energy used in production, and waste created? We think not.
According to the EPA, in 2006 alone, the United States produced more than 251 million tons of municipal solid waste. That’s about 4.6 pounds of waste per person per DAY! Of that 251 million, about 85 million tons of it was paper products. To put it in perspective, the average American uses approximately one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products per year.
Using rags instead of paper towels really is not a burden. To make it convenient, designate a drawer for clean rags and basket for dirty ones. Plus, making them can be fun. You can simply cut the shirts up or you can get crafty. 6 decent sized rags can be had from one large shirt. First, cut the shirt up into square/rectangular pieces and toss out the neck. If you have a small child, cutting the arms and part of the length off the shirt and leaving the neck intact would make a great bib, by the way. Although its not necessary, I decided to sew the edges. In addition to wanting to practice my new sewing skills, I did this to help keep the rag’s shape and to prevent it from fraying and sloughing off lint. I used contrasting colored thread for fun. The finished product looks nice enough to display and use as napkins or dish towels. Voila! A new rag with an old soul.
Note: Wash rags in hot water to keep them disinfected. Or use cold water with Vinegar (Thanks for the tip, Rochelle). Never use fabric softeners (fabric softener makes towels nonabsorbent).
11 Responses to “Bye Bye Paper Towels”
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Thanks,
Scott and Alex
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Hey!
I just posted about this on my blog as well! Great minds. Great tips on making your own towels, also about the fabric softener, I didn’t know that.
Good stuff.
-Zack
You are my hero. I do use lots of rags and not so many paper towels. The fabric softener fact is new to me. Thanks mommmer
Thanks for your comments, Dorothy and Zack. Doing away with liquid fabric softeners and dryer sheets has done wonders for our kitchen and bath towels. They don’t just push moisture around anymore…they actually soak it up.
Zack, we just read your blog on using cloth towels. I like how you broke down the benefits into Environmental, Social and Financial. I was happy to learn that we might save as much as $200/year by switching to cloth towels. Thank you!
I just posted yesterday about using washcloths as napkins on my table! I still have several rolls of paper towels from a large package of them I bought at the price club a few years ago. WE use them so infrequently, it takes months to go through one roll. I am working towards ZERO one-use paper products in my household. Getting there!
Or, if you want to wash in cold water, you can add a cup of vinegar to disinfect! We wash everything in cold, even dirty cloth diapers.
To Dorothy and Zack, I’ve found that reusable dryer balls work great in place of fabric softeners. If you Google “dryer balls”, you’ll see exactly what they are.
Thanks, Dee and Rochelle for the comments. Good luck on getting to your zero paper towel goal, Dee! And, Rochelle, thanks for the tip on using vinegar and dryer balls. I prefer to wash in cold water as well, but hadn’t thought about using vinegar to help with disinfecting.
this discussion just made me think of what My great grandma used to do, she would put a half cup of vinegar in every load ( with cold water) she said that it helped keep your fabric strong and colors deep!
Vinegar is like some kind of cure-all miracle formula I think! It does everything…love it!
This will serve to inspire me! Less paper. I do use tons of vinegar at our farm. In the summer you can even use it to kill weeds.
This is great! A couple years ago when I was visiting my mom, I went through her vintage fabric. This fabric was probably purchased by a grandma or great aunt…. they’re old. Anyway, these neatly folded pieces of fabric have been taking up space all my life. I know each pattern well. So, I did just what you’ve suggested, I cut and sewed them into towel napkins that have served as paper towels and everything under the sun. They are fun, colorful and make any table setting alittle unique and funky! It’s little things like this that help impact our environment in a positive way.
That’s wonderful, Marvia! What a great way to recycle and commemorate. I would love to see photos!