Are Paper Napkins More Environmentally Friendly?

This piece notes that the footprint may be smaller if a big business (think restaurant) uses paper. They’ve got calculations to back it up. While they do err on the side of cloth still being better for home use, they got their calculations by factoring in typical cotton napkins not organics or other fabrics (although they do mention other fabric choices).

I like the piece but in my opinion they did not comment enough about the huge long life span of cloth napkins in the home. Treehugger factored in a year of washing for cloth napkins in the home, but something to consider is that cloth napkins last a lot longer than one year. So when factoring in the energy and materials used to make cloth napkins you also need to note that they’ll last for many years around the house.

You should also factor in alternative fabrics. You can buy organic cotton, flax, hemp, and other napkins vs. conventional cotton. As for the use factor, all of the cloth napkins I’ve ever owned last for about 4-5 years – although by year 4 they are getting a little blah. Once a napkin is too icky to use as a napkin, I switch it over to a cleaning cloth, where I’ll use it until it dies. This means you get super life out of a napkin and get to use cloth not paper towels to clean with which saves even more resources.

Overall they are saying that cloth is best in the home though, and obviously I agree. Read more about cloth napkins here:

• How cloth napkins save you money
• Benefits of cloth napkins
• Make Easy, No-Sew Cloth Napkins in Five Minutes

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Like I said in my previous post, I’m willing to make changes in my life so that I can buy green products, even when they’re more expensive. You can omit quite a few products from your life than totally gets rid of the need for green or conventional products – like you don’t need separate cleanser for the tub and toilet. However, there are some products you can’t do without, or at least I haven’t been able to figure out how. Items like toilet paper, soap, dish washing detergent, organic produce, recycled computer paper, and so on are items you may need, and should buy green, but, it’ll cost you.

To balance the costs I’m going to start sharing some green things that will save you money so that you can buy the products that are necessary. I’ll try to include calculations when possible to make it more realistic.

Today let’s start with an obvious one…

Use cloth napkins instead of buying paper – I’ve never bought paper napkins in my entire life, so I honestly did not know what they cost. My mom used cloth, I’ve always used cloth, so I looked it up. You can get 400 conventional paper napkins for $35.99 at Amazon. In a family of four that’s three (at least) meal times a day. In a year the four of you would eat around 1095 meals together. Using four napkins per meal equals 4380 napkins or almost 11 packs of napkins per year. Which amounts to about $400.00 a year in paper napkins. That’s if you only use one each per meal.

Now, if you buy everyone in your family of four enough organic cotton napkins for three days worth of meals you’d need a set of 36 cloth napkins. I’m assuming you don’t want to wash them every day, so I figured in enough for about three days. I found some nice ones for $22.99 which means you’ll spend a total of $206.00 for the napkins. I’ve seen organic napkins for less though, and also you could skip the organic and pick up 36 nice thrift store napkins for about $1-2 each, making your total cost about $72.00 at the most plus gas to drive to the the thrift store.

In one year you can save anywhere from $194 to $364 by using cloth napkins.

However, you also have to factor in usage and water and energy costs.

Personally I think it’s dumb to use the old argument, “But I have to wash them – that costs water and energy!” If you’ve ever washed cloth napkins you’ll know that they use up almost no space in your washer. 36 napkins won’t even amount to a small load. I always throw them in with my other laundry, which frankly, I have to wash anyhow, so water, soap, and energy costs are a moot point.

If you want to argue this though we can. I checked around and there are different estimates on how much it costs to wash one load of laundry on cold using your dryer set on medium to dry. The costs ranged from about 12 cents to 34 cents depending on where I looked. We’ll use the top range; 34 cents.

According to the book The Tightwad Gazette, it takes about 200 napkins in your typical sized washer to make a full load. That’s worth washing your own set of 36 napkins about 5 times, or about 24 full loads of napkins per year, which works out to around $8.00 a year – even if you add in soap costs, it’s clear that washing cloth napkins can’t outweigh the costs of buying paper. You’re still saving a ton of money.

Then you have to factor in the savings from long-term use. I’ve had cloth napkins my whole life, and the typical life span is four to five years of hard core use as napkins, and then I use them for another two years as cleaning rags, which saves the cost of paper towels.

Let’s add it all up:

Four year’s worth of organic cloth napkins for a family of four =

• $206.00 initial cost
• About $50 for four years worth of washing (and I rounded up big time for soap use and energy fluctuation)
• Total cost of nice organic cloth napkins for four years = $256.00

Four year’s worth of disposable paper napkins for a family of four =

• $1,600 ongoing purchase costs
• $143 the extra costs of one extra pack a year, because anyone with little kids is lying if they say they really only use one napkin each per every single meal.
• Total cost of basic paper napkins for four years = $1,743

Savings with cloth napkins over four years = $1,487

In other words, enough right there to buy all the organic apples and bleach free detergent you need.

Don’t forget, I use the cloth napkins for about 1-2 years to clean, which is an additional savings of hundreds of dollars in paper towels. I also calculated using the nicer organic napkins but you can get nice ones for a fraction of that at thrift stores. Also, we haven’t even discussed how many trees I saved using cloth. The actual savings are much more far reaching than simply monetary costs. If you use recycled paper napkins you pay about $600 a year so this is one case where using recycled won’t help you out. Recycled napkins actually make cloth look even better because over four years you save $2,194 by using cloth over recycled.

Whew, I hope someone finds this useful, because seriously all this math has shot my brain. Have I convinced you to switch to cloth napkins or do you have a good argument for paper?

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Scott from Metal Martyr has taken a break from his musings on music to talk about the earth. When you think about it though, maybe heavy metal and the environment aren’t so different. They both rock. Ok, done with the bad jokes.

We really appreciate Scott’s post. It’s very wise and deep and cool. Rock on. Read the post right now or else — Hello? Earth to Humans!

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

(Earth at Night photo from NASA.)

My Valentine is

To the Earth

When I was little

and had no Valentine,

you were still mine.

Even later when

I became an annoying

teenager,

you hung around.

And now, as I grow older,

I have the dream

you’ll always be well and green.

Happy Valentine’s Day Earth.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

There are many ways to enjoy all that the natural earth has to offer with your family. I like to walk through the nature trails at a local park with Michael. It’s fun to dodge limbs and walk over pine needles. Don’t knock it till you try it.

What you may not be able to enjoy without some help is seeing what a hot spring with an orange algae fringe in New Zealand looks like from above the earth. Can you imagine the brightness of a hill covered with moss in Iceland?

Bernard Edmaier’s Patterns of Earth is a collection of more than 200 pages of surprising images of our earth from above. I never imagined that many of the creations in this book exist. One example: Degassing vents in a sinter crust in a geothermal region of Ethiopia. The vents look like a big sheet of large popped corn baked for years.

The next time you’re searching for an inspiring book that you don’t really have to read, check out Patterns of Earth. Even though this book is made of paper, it just might help you love the earth a little more.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

First I want to post this sale because it’s time-dependent. Pangaya contacted me and noted that they’ll be closing up shop soon. Too bad, because they’re a really nice eco-clothing company. The good news is that until they run out, clothing will be offered at up to 80% off normal prices. Not bad, huh. That includes sale prices on children’s clothing. All of their items are made with sustainable practices.

Let’s see what you can get for some killer sale prices… I picked out a few things I like.

Children’s items:

• 100% Organic Cotton Laurenceleste Poet Blouse
• Laurenceleste 100% Organic Cotton Patch Pocket Shorts and Tailored Shirt

For women:

• Earth Speaks Slip Blouse in 65% Hemp (and adorable)
• Stewart+Brown Lengthened Tee in 100% organic cotton

There’s a lot more great items to grab up at super prices – which you should, before they’re gone.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Peaceful activities and social change support considerably affect eco-issues. We don’t fight for change if we have no reason to. People are really at the core of why we need to live better, live greener. Sure, it’s planet related, but why? Because people want a clean, healthy, and nice world for their family, their friends, and some of us, for people we haven’t met yet. The more people get along, the better it is for humans as a whole and the earth.

• Amnesty International

• Peace Action

• Peace Fleece

• The Children’s Creative Response to Conflict – Canadian & America

• Search for Common Ground

• Peace Brigades International

• American Civil Liberties Union

• American Friends Service Committee

• Nonviolence International

• The Peace Company – this company is great. There’s a really wonderful children’s corner at their website (books, articles, and lots more related specifically to children and peace.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Today, get up and find one reason to get outside and enjoy nature.

Need an idea? Here are 25 good ones.

1. It’s wet, it’s cold, find some eco-frendly coats and gear up.
2. Go on a winter scavenger hunt.
3. Hit the local zoo. see how the animals act differently in the cold months. Which animals are out more or less? Bonus, the zoo will be empty — enjoy the peace and quiet.
4. Play Extreme Leaves!
5. Attract winter birds. Even build your own winter bird feeder.
6. It feels less cold outside when you get that blood pumping. Grab a big bucket of chalk and play hopscotch. See how many variations you can try.
7. If you have a local waterfall park go visit. Waterfalls are drastically different in the winter and summer. Most people visit in the summer. Why not see both sides. Below is Cedar on a hike we took at Silver Creek Falls in Oregon last January — he had a great time and this is a child who refuses to wear a real winter coat — so it was cold. But he slid on ice and had fun all the same.

8. Plant a winter garden.
9. Go caroling tonight.
10. Hiking in winter can still be fun. Sure it’s cold but you can learn to do it right.
11. Collect the items for and then make a holiday winter wreath.
12. Make the most of winter stargazing.
13. Go sledding.
14. For the brave — winter camping! Less spiders more fun.
15. Collect the items for and then make a winter kissing ball. A kissing ball is a similar but different sort of tradition than plain mistletoe. Usually it involves a potato, winter evergreen sprigs, and of course kissing.
16. Build a bonfire.
17. Make snow angels. You too — not just the kids.

18. Learn to make a traditional Japanese paper boat. Make many. Find a nice clear winter stream or pond and go sailing
19. Make a family time capsule. Go for a secret hike in the woods and bury it. Second plan; bury it outside at your house but stay outside afterwards and play a winter game of catch.
20. Hit the beach; if you live near one. Empty, cold, different and still. Winter beaches are loads of fun. Bonus — wet sand never blows in your eyes.
21. Try snowshoeing; it’s one winter sport that’s perfectly emission free.
22. Bundle the kids up in blankets toss them in a red (or other colored) wagon and go on a night walk to see the Christmas lights.
23. Plan a winter picnic.
24. Snowboard responsibly. Get a sustainable harvest wood board from Venture Snowboards or a recycled option from your local used sports equipment store.
25. Go to the park. Yes it’s cold but the park’s still there. Just different. Your kids will still have a great time simply being with you outside.

Bonus idea; plant a tree — there’s never a bad day for this.

What’s your family’s favorite outdoor winter activity?

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

In any case Tracy from EcoStreet emailed me last week to tell me about this great new site and I wanted to share. Tracy wrote an entire cool post about this new site, Freeconomy Community already but I will go over some of the basics.

Freeconomy Community is a site that people are joining up with from all over the world.

Here’s what the community itself is saying…

“It’s about making the transition from a money-based communityless society to a community-based moneyless society. It’s about helping others and providing an opportunity for others to help you. It’s about sharing the skills you have learnt through your life and learning those you haven’t. It’s about sharing your tools so you all can have access to all the tools under the sun without it costing the earth. It’s about using any free space you have to either benefit positive, ethical and local projects, or to enable volunteers to keep doing their amazing work for free. It’s about sharing the land you don’t need in order to facilitate a local food community. It’s about freeconnecting neighbours. It’s about keeping the taxman out of it. It’s about learning to help each other again….”

And onward. You can read the entire low-down behind the community right here.

I grabbed this from their website to kind of give you an idea of how members participate. If you become a member you can share in the freeconomy community in one of these ways:

“Skillshare is about sharing the skills you have learnt throughout your life and learning those you haven’t. With peak oil approaching and climate change occurring more rapidly than most expected, we believe … read more

Toolshare is an initiative which enables members to have access to every tool under the sun without it costing the earth. Members of this scheme in each local community get to … read more

Spaceshare is ideal for people who haven’t got enough time or money to support projects they really believe in, but who have got some space to offer. This may come in the form of … read more

Landshare asks the question ‘Have you got more land than you need or can physically deal with?’ If the answer is yes, then join Landshare and give some of it up to the local community as allotments and become part of a local food revolution. We are approaching a time … read more“

Very cool.

I absolutely agree with the idea behind this community and like most of their thoughts. Their take on what a freeconomy is, “A Freeconomy is a moneyless society in which no money changes and there is no duality between giving and receiving; here they are seen as the two sides of the same non-monetary coin” is interesting and it’s impossible to argue that money is very detrimental to society in terms of placing people in immobile positions. The drive for money and rising costs of everything by the sellers of goods also, I think forces people to spend more energy at work and instills the drive for things rather than time with their family and friends.

I disagree with this point by Freeconomy, “Money and credit are the common denominators of all the world’s ills.” I honestly think this community is a grand idea but I also think that this is an poorly thought out statement. it’s not true. I’ve met people in my life who can be called nothing less than evil and money was the least of the issues surrounding their actions. I think we, as a community will have less ills and trouble if we did go to a moneyless or at least less consumer based society but money is simply paper, rocks, metals, etc.; blaming it for someone’s crimes is not quite the right answer.

Saoirse, the mastermind behind Freeconomy even addresses this saying, “I should make it clear that I don’t blame the innocent notes and coins that are labeled as such. For me, I label the fear, insecurity and lack of faith in humanity and the universe to look after us as money.” So point taken yet the first statement is still plastered on the website. I do agree that money is causing huge problems related to some of the other issues addressed by Saoirse such as, “Environmental destruction on a criminal scale, factory farms, sweatshops, the war on peace, multinational corporations, billboards…” To me a lot of, if not almost 100% of environmental harm is caught up in the all mighty dollar and the urge to have more.

Saoirse, said creator of Freeconomy, notes that he’s, “Walking from Bristol in the UK to Porbandar in India without any form of money because I want my life to be my message.” Part of the site is dedicated to this journey which is so cool.

Here he is… if you happen to see him he’ll give you a password which allows you to access a special part of the sightings area. Fun stuff. I don’t think I’ve seen him. Course, I’m in the NW US.

You can sign up for Freeconomy, if you feel you have something to offer or something you need — or even if you may in the future the rules (or virtues) are lax. My favorite virtue is, “There are no chat rooms. If you want to chat, go and do some gardening together.” That’s awesome. I also love the end sentiments, “We hope that at some point in the future this site will become obsolete because we will all know our neighbours again.” How nice is that.

Anyhow, check Freeconomy out because this world needs all the help it can to get back to a state where we believe in each other more than items, where money is secondary, and where positive and interactive real-life communities exist.

Thanks to cool as beans Tracy for sending me this information. You can visit Tracey at EcoStreet or The Zen Housewife; both amazing reads.

So, what do all of you think of a less consumer (or moneyless) society. Reality or pipe dream? Discuss.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

There are lots of ways to plan an eco-friendly birthday but today it’s all about cake design. If I decide I should work on my birthday I may be back with tips; if not look for those tomorrow.

If you’re planning an eco-friendly birthday you might as well go all the way and even make it a theme party. Here are some amazing cake ideas that can help.

You have to visit Pink Cake Box to read more about this cake below. Whenever I need a cool cake for a post my first stop is always Pink Cake Box and they never disappoint.

I can’t tell if this next one is real or not but if it is real it sure is sweet.

I really love this next one.

And because it’s not all about me; here’s a super easy World Tree Cake that you and your kids can make right now.

Simple and it would look great with decorations of little frosting apples or flowers. Get instructions here.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family