Eco-Active Family

I have a confession to make… In my last post, In the Kitchen: Pitch the Paper, there was an obvious and intentional omission. In my plea to pitch paper napkins, missing was a corresponding plea to pitch the paper towels. The truth is that we’ve been struggling with this one. And since this blog is about sharing our family’s experiences on our quest to have a more positive planetary impact, we share from all angles.

To give ourselves some credit, we have trimmed our use of paper towels significantly. We used to buy the super-duper bundle at Costco and cut the sheets in half. But, tearing the sheets in half doesn’t always work well with the kiddies and the waste became unbearable. So, we switched to buying a three-pack of recycled paper towels from Trader Joe’s. Though thinner and smaller, we manage to stretch the pack out for two weeks or more. But, we are still buying them.

The place where we face the biggest challenge is in the kitchen with those super-sticky and greasy messes. We use cloth napkins and rags for most spills and for cleaning. But what to use to absorb the grease when microwaving bacon? I suppose one solution would to fry the bacon instead of microwaving it, or go the healthy route and not eat it at all!

So, here’s our commitment. Once the last role is gone, we won’t replace it. That’s it! We’ll stock up on rags, do a little more wash, and reduce our waste at the same time. Truthfully, I don’t think it’ll be that great of a challenge, but time will tell. Stay tuned for an update.

Have you abandoned paper napkins and paper towels? If so, how do you make it work? If you haven’t taken the plunge, what’s your greatest challenge?