The Dirty Details of Paper Towels
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Episode 53
The Dirty Details of Paper Towels
Have you ever noticed how your perceptions change over time. For example, you have a childhood memory of some place being really big and then you go back to the same place as an adult only to realize it was actually very small. The same is true for how we view the world at large.
I do remember as a child thinking that the world was literally limitless. Now I realize as an adult just how small our planet really is. The same is true with our utilization of resources. With a booming population, we no longer live in the land of plenty.
But the good news is that sustainability is often about making better choices. And that is the focus of this weeks episode which is called The Dirty Details on Paper Towels.
Welcome back everyone to the Adventures is Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E53 which is called The Dirty Details of Paper Towels.
You know, I have to admit that I often laugh at myself because of the way I think. I distinctly remember when I first started living off the grid, despite having grown up spending a tremendous amount of time in the outdoors, I felt as if I knew nothing. Everything took a tremendous amount of thought and effort. I was met with as many failures as I was with successes.
I find myself faced with the same sort of thing when it comes to sustainability. After producing 50 plus episodes, I find myself constantly questioning what I am doing and why. Are there ways I can improve? Are there things I can change? Not only that, I find myself asking these questions about every single thing in my life.
As I mentioned in a previous episode, one day I was standing in a supermarket looking at a can of soup. I was looking at all of the ingredients and wondering where they all came from and whether or not it was produced in a sustainable manner.
This may seem somewhat silly to most people. But I also think this is what we must now do. We must question everything. With modern technology and transportation, the world is no longer the limitless place we perceived it as being when we were children. And it is getting even smaller. We are now at the point where we actually need to be mindful of what we use and how much.
For example, you may not think too much about tossing a plastic bottle in the garbage. But in the big picture, this happens 60 million times a day in the US alone.
You may not think much about some of your food at home going to waste. But, did you know that as much as 40% of the food in our supply chain in the U.S. goes to waste.
Most of us never think much about leaving various household devices plugged in all the time. Yet this electricity usage now amounts to 23% of our monthly utility bill and cost Americans $8 billion annually.
As you can see, the little things do add up. And it is this thought process that gets me to questioning every little thing in my life, how I do it and why I do it. Thus today’s discussion on paper towels. I have been thinking about this for some time now and I finally decided to make yet another change in my life.
The first step I took was to change the way I was doing things at work. Since I work in various medical facilities, as you can imagine, I wash my hands at least 30 times a day. And each time I washed my hands, I used a paper towel. In fact, the typical person in the U.S uses 3,000 paper towels at work every year. So, I simply started carrying a small cloth towel in the pocket of my scrubs. I now use this to dry my hands and typically use the same one for severals days at a time. And I now have a small supply of cloth towels that live in my truck.
That said, I was still using paper towels at home. I was doing this partly because I was being lazy about making the change and partly because I could not get my head around using a cloth towel for those really messy, greasy things. Now I do not commonly eat fried foods but I do occasionally like to make home made french fries and of course need a towel to put them on to soak up some of the cooking oil.
Then I got to thinking just how silly I was being. It is not that often that I cook really messy things. I decided this occasional event of cooking messy things was not substantial enough reason to resist making a change for the sake of sustainability.
But, before I tell you what I did, I need to tell you all about the dirty details of paper towels. And hopefully once you realize how destructive this one habit of ours is to the environment, it will encourage you to also make this one change in your life.
So, why do we use so many paper towels. In fact, Americans spend more money on paper towels than any other country in the world. In 2017, we spent $5.7 billion on paper towels. Since paper towels are an enormous convenience, maybe it is our desire to immediately get rid of a problem and then throw it away.
Maybe it is because we can afford it. In a strong economy people tend to spend more on non-essentials. It has also been shown that homes with a lower relative income show a greater reliance on reusable tools such as rags and clothes, while homes with a higher relative income rely much more heavily on disposable products such as paper towels.
So why is this a concern?
Well, as you could likely guess, paper products are produced from wood. Actually they are produced from wood pulp, which is a mixture of wood fibers and some chemical additives.
The basic ingredients of paper towels are water, wood, pulp, water based ink for decoration, water based adhesives which holds the layers of paper together, keep it attached to the roll, and then some conditioners which improves the strength of the paper.
But the concern with paper towels is that every day over 3,000 tons of paper towel waste is produced in the US alone. But you see to make one ton of paper towels requires 17 trees and 20,000 gallons of fresh water. So, every day we are throwing away 51,000 trees and essentially wasting 60 million gallons of fresh water. So that amounts to well over 18 millions trees per year and 21.9 billion gallons of water. And remember that is only in the United States.
But if you look at the condition of things on a global scale, you must know that approximately 80% of the worlds virgin forest have now been destroyed or irreparably degraded. All for the purpose of providing timber, wood and paper products, and clearing for agriculture.
You know it is kind of interesting to think that when Arthur Scott came up with the idea of disposable paper towels back in 1932, who would have ever thought that disposable paper products would become the bane of our existence. Yet here we are 89 years later and paper waste accounts for 33% of municipal wastes that goes to the landfill.
As you can see, the little things do add up. And if you want to do one simple thing to reduce your environmental foot print, then ditch the paper towels and any other disposable paper product for that matter. Now I know this can be a challenge for a lot of people because having paper towels is an enormous convenience.
But I would also like to point out the simple fact is one of the major problems with our modern culture is that we are literally addicted to convenience. But I would like to also remind you of something that I say so often. As long as someone else is in control of your resources, they are also in control of your life. On a personal note, I would rather be inconvenienced by having to monitor my solar array regularly than to have someone else be in control of my electricity and what they charge me.
At the same time I also realize that if you are going to give up an enormous convenience for the sake of sustainability, you must also be given an alternative. It is kind of similar to saying that we need to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels yet we do not have an affordable alternative just yet.
So, back to the dirty details of paper towels because I want to give you some fun filled facts.
-First of all the number of trees used by the paper industry is literally staggering. In the United States alone, we use approximately 68 million trees per year for the production of paper and paper products. On a global scale, the consumption of paper has risen by 400% over the last 40 years. Approximately 35% of the trees that are harvested are being used solely for paper manufacturing.
-In the last 20 years, the usage of paper products has increased from 92 million tons to 208 million tons, which is a growth of 126%.
-40% of the world’s industrial logging goes into making paper.
-At our current rate of consumption, we will no longer have rain forests by the year 2100 and the planet will be completely barren of trees in another 300 years.
These fun filled facts sort of add new meaning to my saying that I want to go see something before it is gone. But in the end, the underlying question is whether or not our continued use of these paper products is actually sustainable.
All of that being said, let’s consider cloth versus paper and the different options that are available.
Using Virgin Fiber:
This is course is the least environmentally friendly because that fiber comes from trees. And as I stated above, in the United States alone we waste 68 million trees a year just using paper towels.
The Use of Chlorine Bleach
Those nice white paper towels do not get that way naturally or by accident. The fibers used to produce them have to be bleached. That is done primarily by using chlorine or some derivative. Chlorine and its derivatives and notoriously harmful to the environment especially the aquatic environment.
What you may not know is that chlorine is used to give paper its white appearance and to remove the lignin, which is an element in wood fiber that causes paper to yellow when exposed to sunlight. Wood based paper is naturally brown as is evidenced by brown paper bags and cardboard boxes.
So, to reiterate, nice virgin fiber, bleached white paper, which comes straight from a tree is the least environmentally friendly.
Paper Products with Recycled Content
If you are unable to find 100% recycled paper, then at least find something that has recycled content and is chlorine free. This is the next best alternative and is at least a little more environmentally friendly.
100% Recycled, chlorine free
Now there are two types of materials used in recycled paper. Post consumer fiber is paper that has already been used and sent to recycling. Recovered fiber is trim, scraps, and unused stock from the industrial production of paper. Obviously when you look for paper, always try to go for 100% recycled products.
The Most Environmentally Friendly Option
Cotton Cloth is by far the most environmentally friendly.
Now you must know that the first argument against using cloth is that you actually consume more energy washing all those cloth towels versus using a disposable product. But, this only happens if you are enormously careless about how you use them. So, make sure that when you wash them you actually have a full load to wash. And by the way, electric dryers are about twice as energy efficient was manufacturing paper towels.
But, you know if you just follow a few simple tips in your transition away from paper towels, you will actually never miss them and getting rid of them will be far simpler than you think.
Tips for Ridding Your Life of Paper Towels.
Stop Buying Them
Yep, it is that simple. Just make the commitment to stop purchasing paper towels. This was my first step. In fact, what inspired me to finally make this decision was my recent episode called My Zero Waste Road Trip. I figured if I could have a zero waste road trip, surely I could give up paper towels.
Keep Cloth Towels and Scraps on Hand
One of the primary mistakes I made initially was going out and purchasing a pack of cloth towels. I later realized that cotton is one of the most water and pesticide intensive products in the world. What you can do to avoid this is to cut up old t-shirts, towels, flannel sheets or purchase products at a thrift store.
After I made my initial purchase, I also found a pack of old rags in my storage shed. But, the point here is to have somewhere between 25 and 50 rags on hand so that you do not run out.
Keep Them Separated
As far as laundry is concerned, it is likely better to keep the really dirty kitchen rags separate from your nicer clothes.
Keep Them Handy
Find a place in the kitchen to keep a ready supply of clean rags. This way you avoid reaching for the roll of paper towels that are typically on the counter top. The other important tip is to have a designated area to place a towel that is in use, meaning it is being used regularly until it gets really dirty. This habit will also keep you from reaching for a paper towel.
Purchase Alternatives to Paper Towels
One other thing I did was to purchase Swedish dish clothes. I had heard a lot about them and wanted to give them a try. I have been using them for about 2 months now and keep one sitting on my counter top all the time. These are made from cellulose and cotton and are fully biodegradable.
Reusable bamboo paper towels are also a good alternative. Bamboo is a fast growing, sustainable, biodegradable product that is gaining a popularity.
Tree-free paper towels are also a good alternative. These are typically composed of non-GMO bamboo and sugarcane. They are free of chemicals, inks, plastics, dyes, and are 100% biodegradable.
And there are actually more alternatives than what I am mentioning here. All you have to do is get online and search for alternative to paper towels and you will find plenty of options.
Now one question you may have at this point is what about sponges and microfiber clothes. As far as sponges are concerned, you just have to make sure they are made of cellulose or some other biodegradable product. Microfiber clothes are actually not environmentally friendly at all.
Now, that being said, I do have a large pack of these clothes in my storage shed that I purchase several years ago. I do use these and plan on using them until they literally get destroyed. But, this is because I had already purchased them years ago. But this is what I would encourage you to do. Make use of the things you already have on hand instead of simply throwing it away. Then slowly make your transition.
Similarly, at the time I purchased a reusable safety razor, I still had some disposable plastic razors on hand. I still use them occasionally and will use them until they are gone. But, I just made the commit to no longer purchase them and once they are gone I already have an alternative in place.
Now what about the really messy stuff. This was in fact one of the reasons I put off giving up paper towels. Now I will have to admit that this is one place where you may miss having paper towels. If you have a big messy spill with things all over the floor or counter, then you are going to have to make a few trips to the garbage can and shake out the cloth towel before it goes in the laundry.
And one other simple tip, especially if you are using the same cloth rags to clean surfaces used for food preparation. Simply switch to using all natural cleaning products. All you have to do is mix 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar, 1/2 cup of water, about 6 to 12 drops of your favorite essential oils for a nice pleasant scent and you have a natural, toxin free, environmentally friendly cleaning product.
Summary
Now in summary folks, as you have heard me say before, a big part of sustainability is about making better choices. But I also think that one of the most challenging aspects of our current culture is that often times we do not have alternatives that are easily available.
And a good example of that is electric cars. Not only are they financially out of reach of the average person but there are also not nearly enough electric charging stations available. Additionally, only 12.6% of the electricity in the United States is generated from renewables. So, even if you have an electric car, most of your electricity to run that vehicle still comes from the burning of fossil fuels.
But, such is not the case with paper towels. It is completely feasible to give up using disposable paper products because alternatives are easily available and financially affordable. And if you look at the staggering waste produced by the paper industry, it simply makes sense.
Did you know that if every household in the United States replaced one roll of paper towels with one roll of 100% recycled paper towels, we could save 1.4 million trees.
Remember that everyday in the United States, we produce 3,000 tons of paper waste. This adds up to wasting 18 million trees and 21.9 billion gallons of fresh water every year. If we do not stop what we are doing, there will be no more rain forests left by the year 2100.
So let me ask you to look at this from a different perspective. It is not enough to stand by and watch someone committing a murder while saying “Well, I am not the one murdering that person.” If you stand by and do nothing, are you not just as guilty? The same is true when it comes to our choices everyday.
Most of us would never consider taking a chainsaw once a day and just walking out and cutting down a tree for absolutely no reason. Well that is exactly what you are doing by continuing to use disposable paper products. You are cutting down a tree for absolutely no reason because there is a perfectly acceptable alternative. So make better choices.
I truly think that when most people sit and evaluate their lifestyle, they easily get overwhelmed by how “bad” their situation really is, from the foods they eat, the products they use, their general lack of exercise, etc. Consequently, they sit back and do nothing. When all you really need to do it take one small simple step at a time.
If you changed one habit every two months to something that was more sustainable, think of how different your life would be 5 years from now. So simply focus on all the small things. Take one small step at a time. And that small step can be giving up disposable paper products. It is truly one of the easiest ways to make your life more eco-friendly and making one small change is far more valuable than doing nothing at all.
And, let me remind all my listeners that I often have numerous resources in the transcript of each episode. So, I would encourage you to download the transcript and enjoy some further reading.
And one last thing before I go for this week. Twenty five years ago I made the decision to live off the grid. There have been numerous times I’ve been tempted to give it all up. But as I learned more and more, I became more and more comfortable with my lifestyle. Now I cannot imagine living any other way. I now have more free time and more personal freedom than 95% of the people in the United States all because I was willing to do something that most people would not even consider.
So consider this one last thought for this week. And this is one of my favorite sayings.
If you will do today what most people won’t, you can do tomorrow what most people can’t. So make the choice today to live sustainably because tomorrow you may not have a choice.
This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.
Resources
13 Facts About Home Paper Products that May Inspire You to Hug a Tree
How Paper Towels Are Manufactured
Americans Are Weirdly Obsessed With Paper Towels
Paper versus Cloth: What Are the Greenest Options?
How I Quit Paper Towels and You Can Too
Clean Living: How We Gave Up Paper Towels
