Why? Because essentially kitchen towels, are trees going to landfill.
SAD FACT
Every day more than 51,000 trees are cut down to supply North America’s paper towel habit alone.
We use them once, we throw them in the bin, it’s practically a sin! We know how beautiful and important trees are (if you missed our peek into The Hidden Life of Trees take a look), so let’s save as many as we can.
It takes around 20 to 30 years for (paper-producing) forests to grow, only to be cut down for a single use! What’s more, there’s a lot more behind a product than what it’s made from. There’s energy use in terms of manufacturing, water and transport. And that’s not counting the damage caused by the plastic they come wrapped in or the greenhouse gases they give off in landfill. Plus they can’t be recycled, even if ‘clean’, as the fibres are too short. So why are we doing it, when we can use a cloth?
No brainer? We think so!
But wait, not just any old cloth will do...
We have to get the right kind or we might be swapping one gremlin for another!
Here’s the deal: For those of you, like us, who thought you were doing a mighty fine thing all these years by using e-cloths, turns out they’re not quite the white knights we thought they were. Essentially made from plastic (!) they are microfibre grenades. Yes they don’t need detergents, but so long as you’re using the right kind of cleaners, that doesn’t compensate. The Spontex ones, while made from cellulose and seemingly tick all the right boxes contain chemicals toxic to aquatic wildlife. And because cotton (unless it’s organic) is damaging to the planet, those aren’t great either.
Jees! What on earth are we to do?!
Well…we’ve done the homework and here’s what we want to look for:
Made from sustainable stuff - like bamboo
Washable so you can use them hygienically time after time.
If home compostable too, that’s a win, win, win.
Here’s our top picks*:
As an aside, if you’re not ready to entirely ditch your paper towels yet, you can compost them at home.
*we haven’t tried the Eco Egg cloths yet, but they’re due to arrive today! We’ll update this page if they are fabulous or terrible, otherwise take it as good.
Will it cost me more?
The Eco Egg ones are £9.99 for a roll of 20, which sounds expensive up front but they last up to 1700 washes, so we think they are great value. (FYI, if you’re quick Eco Egg are running a giveaway competition on their Insta channel this weekend.) The Rainbow ones are £5.25 for 4, so significantly more than Spontex which are £2 for 5. So yes. But we do save a forest…
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We…
Aimee: Before we did the recycling actions, I thought I could chuck my used kitchen roll in the recycling...NOPE! Sensing opportunity, Sonia flagged the evils of kitchen roll to me and I haven’t bought them since and actually I don’t miss it. Instead, I’ve bought linen napkins and have a stash of reusable cloths for wiping up spills that I can then throw in the washing machine. Simples.
Sonia: The only time this one becomes tricky is when I’m deep frying (I know, don’t shame me!). I use old paper that I find around the house now for that. Done.
“Let’s throw in the towel”