Comments on: How Green Living Saves You Money: Napkin Example

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:42:54 +0000

@Carissa I’m glad to hear your family made the switch! I was raised in a cloth napkin family, so I never had to take the leap, but I love hearing about when others do.

By: Carissa

Carissa — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:41:15 +0000

I just switched to cloth napkins. We used a TON of paper ones. I was raised in a paper napkin family and never questioned it much until recently. I liked your post offering numbers to back up our decision.

By: Rebecca (Green Baby Guide)

Rebecca (Green Baby Guide) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:27:02 +0000

I am glad this conversation got revived, because Sarah just reminded me of something: We don’t use a napkin for each meal, either. I think using cloth napkins makes me think before grabbing one. We probably use just two or three napkins a week. Our daughter is 2.5 and doesn’t make much of a mess (unusual, I know!). We’ll see what happens when she gets older.

I’ll stay out of the math discussion!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:20:29 +0000

But it’s not 400 napkins for $35.99. I’m positive it’s a case of napkins, 12×400. Nobody spends $35.99 for 400 napkins. Look at these 7th Generation ones — note the words “pack of 12″ in parentheses. It’s 6000 napkins, not 500, for $59.99. I’m sure the non-recycled ones you saw also were a case, 12 packs of 400 (sorry I misread your earlier post as 100). Non-recycled paper products are ridiculously cheap, which is why so many people use them w/o thinking.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C7P4MA/

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:10:50 +0000

I didn’t look up any fancy napkins; just a basic bulk pack on Amazon. My son does use a napkin at every meal – and sometimes they get too grungy to use again. As kids get older they seem to create more mess. If you have a family with older kids, and more than one you likely use even more napkins. But yes, you can compost them – that’s a good idea.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:02:40 +0000

I’m all for cloth napkins but your numbers are way out of whack. I haven’t spent $400 on paper napkins in my entire life. I think you were looking at a case of 12 packs of 100 fancy napkins or something. I buy Seventh Generation unbleached recycled napkins, which come in a pack of 500; Amazon sells a case of them for $60, so $5 per pack or a penny a napkin. I probably pay a little more than that at the grocery store but they last our family of two (well, three now, but one is an infant and just uses burp cloths) probably two years, hence my not remembering what they cost. I use on average less than one napkin per day. I don’t bother with a napkin at all unless I’m eating something really messy. Never with breakfast. And when I do use one, unless it’s a really messy meal my husband & I split a napkin by tearing it in half along the fold. Plus when we eat out places tend to give us too many napkins, and rather than throw them out we bring them home. In other words, we spend maybe $2 or $3 a year on recycled paper napkins, and they can go in our compost heap. I know you don’t buy paper napkins, but you must buy toilet paper, so you have some sense of what paper products cost. How could you imagine that all the households out there are spending $400 a year on napkins??? Granted, people are dumb enough to spend that or more on bottled water, but people would be swiping napkins from fast food restaurants right & left if they cost that. You’d never see a napkin dispenser that wasn’t empty.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:18 +0000

Oh, now that’s a good tip – ask for napkins as a gift. Although, have you ever noticed how the non-greenies in the family think you’re nuts when you say stuff like, “PLEASE, all I want are $5 napkins! No really….”

My family thinks I’m loony when I’m dead serious.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:15:33 +0000

I also never buy paper napkins and have probably spent just $5 on cloth napkins in my whole life. I have a few cloth napkins from a thrift store and the rest I received as gifts. That’s my tip: ask for cloth napkins for your next birthday!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:27:29 +0000

Nice point. There are plenty of ways to make cloth napkins even cheaper. Thrift store fabric is so inexpensive too. Although my idea of sewing is to staple ripped fabric together.

I’d use tape if that worked.

I can sew – I just don’t love to. My ex mends all Cedar’s ripped clothes and makes him blankets so I suppose I’m lucky there.

By: DramaMama

DramaMama — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:16:21 +0000

Just a cheap, er – frugal (!) thought to add. You could always visit the thrift stores’ craft area or the clearance area of a craft store for fabric and make your own. You don’t sew? Ask around – you probably know someone who does. Napkins are pretty basic sewing and if you offered some home-baked goods they might even do it for free!