Elizabeth received some reader questions about the environmental impact of washing cloth napkins and towels compared with paper these last couple of weeks, specifically in terms of water and CO2 emissions. She addresses these concerns below:
Is cloth really better than paper if we have to wash the cloth items in a washing machine? (And how about the impact of growing the fibers for that cloth?)
There are many considerations and layers to the discussion of paper vs. cloth products and Elizabeth was kind of disappointed in the analyses she saw on the internet. She felt that they didn't quite consider everything. So she will be writing an entire blog post about the topic that I will add to this blog. (Stay tuned!)
One particular note she had was that the broader environmental impact of cutting down the trees for virgin paper products was, she thought, underestimated for two reasons:
A: Those trees cut down are now no longer able to sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
Some articles noted that we could just replant the trees. That is true, yes. But many climate scientists and ecologists emphasize that conserving old trees is more impactful than planting new ones. Here's a great article that explains this more.
B: Cutting down trees results in habitat loss for wildlife species and disruption of ecosystems. This can lead to the endangerment of species among a whole host of other problems.
As I said, more to come on that! But for now, let’s get to the swap #7: a handkerchief to replace single-use facial tissues!
According to this calculation, Americans use about 255 billion disposable facial tissues a year. Eek...
This is a new swap for me but here are my tips so far:
1) Concerned about hygiene? I’m not because I have a toddler who literally sneezes into my eyes…haha…but it's a fair concern and I don't think that you necessarily have to always use a handkerchief if you have an infection or virus that is still contagious — everyone has to find what's right for them, but in my opinion, living a low waste lifestyle doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your health. I do think this swap comes in handy for when we just have a runny nose, common cold, watery eyes, or something like that. And personally, I'd also wash these handkerchiefs decently often because of sanitation reasons.
2) On that washing topic… you can handwash handkerchiefs or wash them with your other towels / other items so that you don’t have to do an entire wash load specifically for the handkerchiefs. This will minimize the carbon footprint of washing! The same applies to our previous swaps: kitchen napkins and towels — maybe you could even combine towels + napkins + handkerchief if that’s enough for a full load.
3) To further reduce the carbon footprint of the handkerchief during its lifetime, wash in cold (90% of the energy in washing goes to heating the water according to Energy Star) and air-dry it instead of drying in the dryer.
Where do you get handkerchiefs?
Maybe you have a cute little grandma that makes handkerchiefs already or you could certainly make your own too if you are into DIYs! Here’s a tutorial from Sewing.com.
If you're concerned about hygiene, these "HankyBooks" look quite interesting! They have many handkerchiefs sewn together to create a little book. They're made from 100% organic cotton, too.
There are also a lot of handmade handkerchief options on Etsy that are super cute. (Plus, I like that Etsy is one of the few large retailers offsetting 100% of their carbon emissions from shipping.)
➡ P.S. Next week's swap is a menstrual cup (to replace tampons). I know that this is a personal and potentially intimidating/challenging swap so if you have any questions, hit reply and let me know! Depending on how many questions I receive, I may do an entire blog post on the topic to ensure I cover everything.
*Just giving credit to Elizabeth over at conscious life & style, the sustainable swap challenge is her concept, along with most of the wordage in this blog entry, I’m just adding my two cents and trying to further this challenge. consciouslifeandstyle.com