updated 06/25/2021
Reading time: approximately 3 minutes
Would you like to reduce or eliminate the use of paper towels in your home?
A quick online search reveals that in the United States alone, 13 billion pounds of paper towels are used and discarded per year. That is a lot of waste and most of us are guilty of contributing at least some of the time.
Most of us would be willing to embrace an alternative if it were easy and convenient.
Reducing or eliminating paper towel waste is easier than you would think.
Decide with what you would like to replace the paper towels.
Our youngest daughter invested in reusable paper towels that can be washed and re-rolled onto the tube. This is a great alternative if you are willing to re-roll them. (It’s pretty easy)
Microfiber cloths are a good alternative. One of our local restaurants have started using them in place of napkins.
Microfiber cloths are the alternative I use in our bathrooms.
For the rest of the house, primarily the kitchen, I prefer cheap, cotton hand towels that I pick up frequently at the dollar store. They are easy to clean and bleach and they are inexpensive enough that I don’t feel guilty throwing them away when they get disgusting.
Make using an alternative paper towel convenient
Keep your cloths or towels wherever you would keep paper towels.
I have an entire drawer in the kitchen just for the cotton hand towels.
In the bathrooms they are in a drawer, in with wash cloths and with my cleaning supplies.
If the cloths aren’t accessible, they will not get used.
What do you do with the wet, damp and dirty cloths when you can’t just pitch them in the trash?
That has to be easy as well.
Don’t pitch them in the hamper if they are too wet or soiled. That will create a breeding ground for nasty smells and bacteria.
The problem can be solved with a plastic bin from the dollar store.
Choose one that is small enough to set on a shelf in the laundry room but large enough to hold a decent quantity of small towels.
Make a habit of pitching them into the bin when you are finished using them and wash frequently.
Since my washer has a sensor load, I don’t hesitate to wash even a very small load of the towels.
If you want to make it even easier, put a bin in the kitchen and bathrooms also.
With just a little bit of effort you can participate in reducing paper towel waste.
Even if you don’t completely eliminate the use of paper towels in your house, if we all reduce our use by even half, it will be a drastic improvement!
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Good idea Micki! I DO NOT like wet towels in my basket!
I purposefully lay my wet hand towel draped over the side of the laundry basket. Before I get a chance to do the laundry (next day or so) it’s dry. I either slip it into the basket or sort and do my laundry. Having just two adults at home, this is a manageable method for me.
I am overwhelmed with “clutter”. Having no laundry-room, I would have to find a place to store another bin.
I too have always draped them over the side of my basket, only to have them fall in and get other clothes damp.
However, I am glad your solution works for you. That is what is important.
Such a great idea, if my washer is empty I throw them in there but I never know what to do when the washer is full or running! Taylor is adding an extra shelf in our laundry room so I’ll have to try this.
Well, throwing them in the empty washer works, until it doesn’t, just like you pointed out. 🙂
Let me know how the new shelf works!