Paper towels are found in every home, business, and office. In fact, manufacturers of paper towels are popular across the world, and it is a profitable business for many companies. At first glance, these paper towels are convenient and affordable; however, have you ever wondered about the negative environmental impact these towels have?
Take steps to reduce carbon footprint and save the planet with small changes
You can reduce your carbon footprint by saying no to paper towels. Though they have a small carbon footprint of about 0.06lbs of CO2 for every paper towel, they collectively accelerate deforestation, increased waste problems, and global warming. They are manufactured like other paper products like tissues, writing paper, and cardboard. Each one of them is molded from pulp that contains water and small wooden pieces. This pulp industry comprises about 0.5% of the total CO2 emissions in the United States of America.
Research and survey
There has been a study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) states that using two standard paper towels made from cotton to dry your hands has a carbon footprint of more than 15 grams of carbon dioxide. On a national scale, these small grams increase as people in the nation generally use about 13 billion pounds of paper towels every year – this equal to you roughly cutting about 270 million trees annually.
What are the alternatives for using paper towels in the USA?
People in the USA are primarily responsible for nearly half of the world’s usage of paper towels. They spend more than 5 billion every year. However, if you are searching for safe alternatives to save the planet, you can choose-
- Food wraps made from beeswax
- Napkins from Chambray
- Kitchen cloth made from cotton
- Huck towels
- Sponges
- Bread bags made from linen
- Cotton or linen bowl covers
- Cocktail napkins made from linen
Using a microfiber cloth and cotton towels for the kitchen
Paper towels are handy in the kitchen because they can easily clean a mess or spill. If you want to reduce the carbon footprint for paper towels, you can use microfiber cloth as a good alternative for cleaning your kitchen as well. Likewise, you can use cotton towels for cleaning kitchen spills and messes. These towels can be washed daily and reused a number of times.
You can also use cotton napkins at the dinner table and reduce your dependence on paper towels. They are affordable and help you to reduce the carbon footprint to almost zero. Again, several companies manufacture eco-friendly paper towels for you to use in the bathroom and kitchen effectively.
You can reduce your carbon footprint with paper towels in the bathroom as well. The bathroom is another common area where you use paper towels regularly. Instead of paper towels for drying your hand, you can use hand dryers instead. Air dryers are popular in every premise, and they effectively reduce your carbon footprint each time you use the bathroom.
