I feel that just keeping track of my use has helped me reduce my consumption of paper towels. I figured I was already being good by not using them to dry my hands, for napkins, or most cleaning jobs, but I found out I was reaching for them more than I thought. I used one roll from May 1-23, and have used a little of a second roll since then. I’m going to work on using even less in the coming months.

If you’re trying to lower your paper towel use, one inspirational tool you might try is a “These Come From Trees” sticker. The stickers are helping raise awareness in many places, particularly public restrooms.

One reader, Tammy, also suggested putting the paper towels in a less convenient spot, like under the sink.

Do you have any special tricks to help yourself remember to use fewer paper towels?

Here are the links to the paper towel challenge posts for this month:

Paper Towel Challenge

Paper Towel Challenge Update

Organic Dish Towel Find

Cold Turkey Paper Towels & and the What Questions

Finished a Roll

If you tried to reduce your paper towel use this month, please let us know how you did.

Image via stock.xchng.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

I believe I’ve made progress on reducing my paper towel use. I started a new roll on May 1, and I used the last sheet tonight. Twenty-three days for one roll among two people and a cat isn’t so bad, but I would prefer to only use one roll for the entire month.

The cat did vomit earlier this week, like all cats do. I picked it up with some of his play tissue (recycled from packaging), and I threw that in the trash. Then I used a cloth to finish cleaning the spot. Not too bad.

I did forget to use a dish towel instead of a paper towel to cover pizza dough while it rose. I guess I haven’t broken that habit yet.

What’s helping me reduce my use of paper towels besides wanting to save trees and other resources?

•Having plenty of dish towels on hand. See the organic dish towels I got from Target to stock up.

•Thinking before I reach. May sound simple, but it’s not!

•Killing the paper towel “plate,” which was apparently a big, bad habit.

•Having a goal. In my case, I want to only use one roll a month. In time, I may decide to use less than that.

•Saving money. That’s always good when it costs $38 to fill up a Honda Civic. Ouch.

Have you broken any bad paper towel habits?

Image via flickr.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in May 2008

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

I’ll let you know how I’m doing in just a bit, but first, let’s talk about you! Joining our challenge so far are the following readers:

DramaMama, Kisha, Jodi, Nix and Linette

If I left your name off, it’s just because I thought you were commenting and not joining the challenge. If I’m wrong, let me know! Likewise, if I shouldn’t have your name here. Feel free in join in at any time, or just silently follow along without commenting — whatever suits you.

Please let us know if you came up with anything interesting on your list of paper towel uses last week. Also, what uses are you giving up? Do you have a roll goal in mind (use only X rolls a week, etc).

So, what did I use my paper towels for in the past week, and how many did I use? And what does it have to do with angel food cake?

A little background: I use a dish towel to dry my hands after washing in the kitchen. I also use a second dish towel to clean with most of the time. And I have cloth napkins, so I’m usually not tempted to use a paper towel.

While I have already drastically reduced my paper towel use over years past, I’m not really as good as I thought. My list reveals that sometimes you use paper towels just cause they’re hanging around.

Here’s what I did:

•Cleaned up spilled wet coffee grounds. (I thought I’d just have to start on another dish towel if I used one for that.)

•Angel food cake plate. (Oh, how lazy! This was late at night and I guess I couldn’t be bothered to reach into the cabinet for a plate.)

•To cover up pizza dough so it could rise. (Hmm, not sure why I didn’t use a cloth napkin instead.)

•Twice – Dried out the cat’s food bowl after washing. (I wanted to immediately fill it with dry food, and I didn’t feel comfortable using the same dish towel I have out for hand drying.)

•On bottom of plate to drain grease from fried food after taking out of pan.

•Cleaned up raw chicken juice that spilled on counter.

•Used it to clean an everyday mess because I didn’t refill the dish towel drawer in time.

•Husband — grabbed one because he forgot a cloth napkin and the paper towels were closer.

•Husband — cleaned up jam “because it was sticky.”

•Husband — used with bacon cooking in microwave.

All this took up about one half of a roll. So, my goal is to either use only one fourth of a roll a week, or stop using altogether. I can’t decide which.

There are also a few cat things (vomit and slight misses at the litter box) that happen from time to time that didn’t occur last week, and I like to use paper towels for those cat things.

Well, obviously my list contained some uses I need to ditch. And keeping that list has helping me think about each use more. The usage list is eliminating the automatic reach.

Here’s what I’m going to try:

•Stop using paper towels as snack plates, duh. I don’t do it a lot, but it does happen sometimes. If I really don’t want to use a plate, I can always use a cloth napkin instead.

•I want to make sure I always have the dish towel drawer refilled. This may mean buying a few more dish towels and making sure I don’t leave clean ones unfolded in the laundry area.

•I also need to work on making the cloth napkins more accessible so that we’re not tempted to reach for a paper towel for things like covering pizza dough. But mainly, it would help us remember to grab one before heading to the dining area. Right now my cloth napkins are kept in a wire basket in the food pantry at the end of the kitchen. I keep them there because I’m afraid my cat would walk all over them and knock them out of the basket if I leave them on the counter — he would! I have limited drawer space, but it sounds like I need to do some moving around in order to get the cloth napkins in a drawer in the main kitchen area.

•Try to use cloth 100% of the time for cleaning.

Remember, for week two of the challenge, work toward reducing your paper towel usage by half. After that, you can evaluate your progress and decide if you need to eliminate more uses in order to meet your goal.

Please remember to let us know how you’re doing!

Image via flickr.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in May 2008

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

I’m inviting you to take the paper towel challenge in May. I’m going to do this with you and report my results as well. I’ve come a long way in lowering my paper towel usage, but there’s always room for improvement. My co-blogger Jennifer won’t be doing this challenge since she doesn’t use any paper towels. I’ll talk more later about how my cat is the source of some of my paper towel usage.

Here’s how the Paper Towel Challenge works:

Week One (May 4-10): Make a note of how many rolls of paper towels you used and what you used them for. A piece of paper on the refrigerator should do the trick. You can mark your progress more easily if you use the same brand/size throughout this month. If you haven’t switched to recycled paper towels, now would be a great time.

Week Two (May 11-17): Stop using paper towels for two of the purposes you listed. Use cloth instead. Try to reduce your paper towel usage by one half before the end of the month. If you used two rolls last week, try to only use one roll a week by the end of the month. If you used one roll last week, try to only use half a roll a week. Keep track of how many rolls you’re using and what you’re using them for.

Week Three (May 18-24): Have you made progress? If not, you may need to look again at how you’re using the paper towels. If you’re using them for napkins, try cloth napkins instead. If you’re using them for cleaning, use rags or sponges instead.

Week Four (May 25-31): Come back here and tell us how you did. And if you didn’t meet your goal, keep trying. If you met your goal, let’s party!

Don’t forget to come back here often to let us know how you’re doing and talk to others who are taking the paper towel challenge.

Image via flickr. That’s not my cat.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family