Paper products can be terrible environmental offenders. From the use of virgin pulp, the manufacturing and the worst – the disposal. When it comes to household paper products, they are all disposable. What an awful waste of a tree!
One easy change for you (and big change for the environment!) is to replace your paper towels with washable ones. Not only is it better for the environment, it’s better for your wallet and for cleaning. The nap on cleaning cloths helps pick up dust, dirt, and debris – while paper towels tend to push around unless you work on cupping your hand.
There are so many options when it comes to these. There are beautiful unpaper towels that some vendors sell on sites like Etsy. Some even snap together so that you can put them on a roll like traditional paper towels. They come in a variety of colors, prints, and styles. Some vendors will even make them custom to your taste.
However, if you’re like me, you can’t afford to outfit your kitchen with spendy paperless towels. Not that I wouldn’t love some. It’s just not something needed right now.
So what did I do? Well, one day while at the store I spotted a huge rack of 18-count washcloths. They were about $5 a pack. For $10 I have 36 perfectly usable and scrubby cloths to use to tidy up my house. They work well, wash well and I couldn’t be happier with them. Especially since they were so affordable. I store mine under my kitchen sink for easy grabbing. (I’ve had these for FOUR years now, and many of them are still as scrubby as ever.)
And look, even my kids like them 😉
When I’m done cleaning I toss them in with my regular laundry. If you like to keep things a bit more tidy (or if you like accessories) you can even get one of these great kitchen wetbags to store them in until laundry day.
Regardless of what you choose to get, you’ll love the switch from paper towels.
Have you made the switch? I’d love to hear what you think and if you purchased unpaper towels, what brand you recommend. It might help someone else choose.
