There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.
This weeks tip involves…substituting paper products with reusable cloth products
“With over 90% of US households taking advantage of the convenience of paper towels we produce over 3,000 tons of waste each day.” *
“Giant paper producers including Kimberly-Clark — the maker of Scott, Cottonelle, Kleenex and Viva tissue paper products — are forcing the destruction of our continent’s most vibrant forests…” **
Let’s see what we can do to combat this wastefulness and become better stewards of God’s money.
Paper Towels
Here are a few alternatives to paper towels. Once you stop using them, there’s little doubt you’ll feel liberated, more environmentally conscience, and less wasteful!
- Use sponges – Sponges are a great way to handle those “messy spills” we normally use paper towel for.
- Use microfiber clothes – These reusable clothes from Sam’s Club have gotten rave reviews and are a great substitute for paper towels. I am going to purchase some tonight, and will post a review after I get a chance to use them.
- Cotton kitchen towels – Instead of using paper towels to dry your hands, simply use washable & reusable cotton kitchen towels.
- Use homemade rags – Have some old socks or t-shirts you are about to throw out? STOP! Instead cut them into pieces and use as rags in the kitchen in place of paper towels.
From here forward I will be employing the above methods to save on the cost of disposable paper towels.
Kleenex/Facial Tissue
To reduce/stop having to purchase facial tissue, simply carry around a reusable & washable handkerchief. This may seem gross to you at first; that is only because you are in the habit of using disposable tissues. Similar to paper towels, once you make this change you will most likely wonder how you ever wasted so much money on disposable tissues.
Toilet Paper???
Who knows, after reading this post from Amelia at TheMomCrowd maybe I’ll even start using clothe toilet paper! I’ll keep you posted on that as well, although I’m not so sure you want updates on that info! 😉
*Source: EzineArticles
**Source: NRDC