The next money and planet saving trend

Un-paper towels are catching on in a big way, and as of today, we've added ourselves to the list of families using them. Basically, un-paper towels are just thin cloths usually resembling flat diapers (in my case, they ARE flat diapers! LOL) which are used in the place of paper towels. Many people put snaps on them and roll them around a paper towel stand so they function exactly like paper towels, while others prefer snapless. I'm on the fence, but leaning toward snaps. Since I'm making my own (yes, some people buy this stuff) I've got time to figure it out.

It seems like the simplest decision, and really, it is. How many generations that came before us NEVER used paper towels? A lot, just like a lot of generations that came before us never used disposable diapers. It's just that in today's world, it seems like nobody is immune from "use once and throw away" mentality. I can't even claim to be outside the mainstream on that to a certain extent. Granted, our household waste is not even 1/4 that of many other families we know. (I was always astounded when I lived on post, by how much trash the other families on our block generated. I'm talking two full trash cans a week, and no recycling. It was sad.) We recycle more than we throw away, and we are greener by a mile than the majority our peers, but there is still a lot we can improve on.

It wasn't long ago that I had a major revelation at the grocery store. I was on the paper products aisle, and looked to my left and right. That's when it hit me that this entire aisle of the grocery store, just like the disposable diaper aisle, consisted entirely of trash in waiting. Every single thing on that aisle would wind up in the landfill, probably within the month. When one is bought, another is put out in its place, and ALL the while, every single thing you see on the grocery store aisles will end up in the landfill eventually, generally very quickly. This cycle is never ending, and only gets faster with the increase of population. Just think about that for a minute. It's sobering, isn't it? It was to me, but the cool thing is that it's all a choice. We are totally free and able to take ourselves and our families out of that equation to any extent we choose. We've decided to keep toilet paper, but lose the paper towels. We're already using cloth diapers exclusively, and all natural cleaners (we've gone to a homemade mix because we found that the store bought ones had a lot of nasty additives, and also to reduce the amount of packaging we were going through.) so our family's contribution to the landfill is well under half that of a comparable family, but we can still reduce it further by cutting out our use of paper towels.

I think this is our responsibility as tenants of this planet (as our Native friends tell us, we're only borrowing it from our children) to find ways to walk a little softer. Erin and I had a big conversation about ways to save the earth just today. She had noticed trash on the roadside, and said, "I wish people wouldn't throw their garbage everywhere. It's bad for our earth to be all trashy." I said I agreed with her, and asked what else she thought people could do to save the earth. She came up with cloth diapering, using the clothesline, recycling, cleaning with vinegar and water instead of chemical cleaners, giving your outgrown clothes to other people who could use them, and driving a car that doesn't use much gas. Smart kid. She's a lot more on the ball than most of the adults I know.

It's all in the little things, people. You do one little thing, it makes a difference. You do many little things, it makes a BIG difference. One person, or one family, cannot single handedly save the planet, but we can compensate for the jerkoffs who refuse to live anything but the most gluttonous lifestyle, and let's face it, somebody's got to do it. Try unpaper towels. It's just one more way to make a small change for a big difference over the course of time.