No More Paper Towel Guilt!

Years ago, when I first realized that I could buy 15 rolls of paper towels for $25 at my local membership warehouse club, it seemed like a great deal. I paid just $1.66 per roll and rarely had to worry about running out. But as the months and years went by and I continued to purchase packages of paper towel rolls so large that they barely fit in the trunk of my car, I started to think about the effect that this “bargain” was having on the environment.

I already knew that trees are being cut down at an unsustainable rate, but when I learned that 3,000 tons of paper towel waste is produced each day and that 40% of US landfill trash is paper products, I began to think about my own contribution to this ecological nightmare. It was time to put a stop to my addiction. But how? I had grown accustomed to reaching for a paper towel every time I needed to clean, dry, wipe, strain, or cover anything.

That’s when I learned about Bambooee, the reusable bamboo towel. A roll of Bambooee looks just like a roll of paper towels, except it’s made up of 20 sheets of organic bamboo, which is the world’s fastest growing plant. It is 100% biodegradable and requires no pesticides, insecticides, or fertilizers. Bambooee cloths are strong and absorbent, and one roll lasts as long as 60 rolls of paper towels! That’s six months of paper towel use for the average family. To top it off, with every roll of Bambooee purchased, the Trees for the Future agroforestry training program plants a tree in one of the thousands of communities where they work around the world.

I’m proud to say that I now live in a paper towel-free household. My guilt is gone and my wallet is happy.  Making the switch to Bambooee was a simple lifestyle change that has allowed me to become a part of the eco-solution. Now that’s a habit I can feel good about!

A question for other Bambooee users out there:

Any tips for how to keep track of different cloths while they’re in use? I don’t want to mix up the cloth I use cleaning products on with the cloth that I wipe food with, but they are all the same color. Looking forward to hearing your advice! Please leave comments below!



2 Responses

PaperlessKitchen.com
PaperlessKitchen.com

August 19, 2012

That’s a fantastic idea! Much classier than the x’s drawn with markers that I was considering :) Thanks so much for your suggestion!

minnie
minnie

August 18, 2012

try stitching small colored x’s in the corners of th e towels. maybe green for food, and red for chemicals?

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