Are there any “good” paper towels?

Making paper is one of the most polluting industries on the planet. It uses huge amounts of water and energy. It may use chlorine to bleach the paper white, and that chlorine may create dioxin, one of the deadliest toxins on earth. Some paper manufacturers discharge dirty water, often laden with dangerous chemicals, back into rivers and lakes. Never mind how many trees are cut down to make paper, how much paper is used to package other paper, or how much air pollution is generated transporting paper from the manufacturer to the retailer.

Needless to say, given these impacts, I’m not a big fan of paper that’s produced just to be used once and thrown away. What’s in that category? Paper towels. Paper napkins. Paper face tissue. Disposable wipes made from paper. Toilet paper (well, okay, I tolerate toilet paper).

Why not use cloth? In every category except toilet paper, cloth offers a cheaper and more eco-friendly option. Cloth towels and napkins can easily replace their paper counterparts and save consumers hundreds of dollars a year. When they wear out, they can be used as rags and wipe-up cloths. A cloth towel or napkin has a useful life of years, compared to the seconds a paper towel has value.

Marcal tissue Why the rant? Because I just received an e-mail from the Marcal paper company extolling the virtues of their “Small Steps Save-a-Tree” Paper Towel Design Contest. The contest is urging “artists and tree lovers of all ages” to submit original drawings that show their love for trees. The winner of the contest will be flown to California to “hug a giant tree.” The winning drawings will be used to promote Marcal products – throwaway paper products.

Now, Marcal is more virtuous than many other paper companies. It makes all of its paper products from recycled paper as opposed to pulp from virgin forests. It does not use chlorine to bleach its paper, and it adds no dyes or fragrances.

The problem is, it still makes paper designed to be used once and thrown away. Which begs the question: apart from toilet paper, should Marcal (or any company, for that matter), be in the throwaway paper business at all?

Campaigns like the Small Steps Save-a-Tree Design Contest make consumers feel good about using throwaway products. That’s wrong. Marcal and other companies would do the planet a world of good if they encouraged consumers to use cloth instead of throwaway paper.

By the way, what do you think the carbon footprint will be of the person they fly to California to hug that tree?

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About Diane

Diane MacEachern is a mother of two kids, best-selling author and award-winning entrepreneur with a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources and the Environment. She founded Big Green Purse because she is passionate about sharing her experience and expertise with anyone who wants to live green and save money doing it.

8 thoughts on “Are there any “good” paper towels?”

  1. Campaigns like the Small Steps Save-a-Tree Design Contest make consumers feel good about using throwaway products.
    By the way, what do you think the carbon footprint will be of the person they fly to California to hug that tree?
    Two excellent points!

  2. Save money and the Earth and be clean at the same time! Get serious and add Bathroom Bidet Sprayers to all your bathrooms. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: “if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn’t wipe it off with paper, would you? You’d wash it off” Available at http://www.bathroomsprayers.com with these you won’t even need toilet paper any more, just a towel to dry off! Don’t worry, you can still leave some out for guests and can even make it the soft stuff without felling guilty. It’s cheap and can be installed without a plumber; and runs off the same water line to your toilet. You’ll probably pay for it in a few months of toilet paper savings. And after using one of these you won’t know how you lasted all those years with wadded up handfuls of toilet paper. As for water use a drought is always a concern and must be dealt with prudently but please remember that in the big picture the industrial water users always far exceed the water use of household users and in the case of toilet paper manufacture it is huge. The pollution and significant power use from that manufacturing process also contributes to global warming so switching to a hand bidet sprayer and lowering your toilet paper use is very green in multiple ways. Blog; http://jeff9.livejournal.com/932.html

  3. Hi Diane,
    I am slowly giving up paper towels and using rags. Having a toddler makes giving up certain conveniences more of a challenge, but it just means an extra load of rags each week. Not too bad. I don’t like that paper towels are also wrapped in plastic. So, they have 2 strikes against them. I am looking for a toilet paper (other than the Scott tissues that comes wrapped in paper; single rolls) to switch to. Do you know of any other brand? Scott tissue is too thin. My husband is a former IBS sufferer of 20 years and will ONLY use something extremely soft 🙂

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