The conversation caused me to wonder how many rolls of paper towels the average American household purchases in a month and what they use them for. I’ve decided to compare paper versus cloth products in price, usage, convenience,  aesthetics and sustainability.

First I dug up some interesting history on paper towels. The invention of the paper towel was actually a serendipitous accident. In 1907, a rail-car shipment of the wrong thickness of paper was delivered to the Scot company, the premier toilet paper manufacturer in the US. The president of the company remembered reading an article about a school teacher who gave a small, soft square of paper to each of her students as an alternative for wiping their hands on the communal bathroom cloth towel in hopes of stopping the spread of colds in her classroom.

Instead of taking a loss on the errant paper shipment, Mr. Scot decided to introduce the concept of a disposable sanitary towel, which was marketed to the medical industry. It’s of great interest to me that the actual consumer grade paper towel was not introduced to market until nearly twenty-five years later, in 1931. The simple fact was that people had no use for such a product because they used washable cloth rags.

I priced a roll of Bounty paper towels at $2.50, while a pack of white bar rags are about $10/dozen and you only buy them once. The paper industry needs you the consumer to absolutely believe that their product is not only indispensable but also that there is no alternative. Check out this old Bounty commercial. How many diners do you know of that rely solely upon paper towels to address their cleaning needs?

Watch Old Bounty Paper Towel at EncycloMedia.com

Ads are aggressively marketed to create a *perceived* convenience factor, but in the long run, the boasted conveniences are really an illusion – we the consumer throw that paper directly into our over-taxed landfill system. And don’t forget that a tree was most likely chopped down to make the pulp for that paper towel and millions of gallons of chemical-laden waste water was flushed directly into the water supply from the paper towel factory.

Kimberly-Clark is the global giant of the paper industry and also the leader in setting standards for paper industry sustainability, so I decided to check out the Kimberly-Clark 2007 Corporate Sustainability Report. K-C spent millions in 2007 to update the water systems at their factories and to convert their power systems to utilize methane gas from local landfills. They also buy virgin wood only from reputable sources to ensure that their raw materials aren’t coming from the rainforest. I applaud Kimberly-Clark’s efforts, but their report isn’t completely undisturbing.

In 2007, the company used 31% recycled paper, so that means that nearly an alarming 70% of all the material they require to make paper towels, facial tissues, diapers and dinner napkins came from trees, otherwise known as ‘virgin wood resources.’ Also, their most water conserving plant, located in Beech Island, South Carolina, recycles 60% of it’s water. They only flush a mere 40% of their waste water into the Savannah River, which is an important public water source. And another note of extreme interest to me is that the K-C’s Emerging Market division has it’s sights set on changing the way that half the world’s population views the use of paper products. Here’s a direct excerpt from the report:

We are seeing our fastest growth in developing and
emerging (D&E) markets in Asia, Eastern Europe and
Latin America. Within these markets, we continue to
focus on the BRICIT countries (Brazil, Russia, India,
China, Indonesia and Turkey). The BRICIT countries
represent half of the world’s population, but only six
percent of K-C sales.

 Our range of semi-durable paper towels,
developed to meet cultural norms in Latin America where
disposable paper towels are rarely used, have been highly
successful.

I suspect that families with small children use the most paper products, because a busy Mom will tell you her *perceived* truth – that it’s just less hassle and more sanitary to throw a snot-covered paper towel away rather than wash a cloth. That’s one way the utilization of paper becomes the norm within a household.

The Bounty website helps perpetuate the modern trend of American germophobic thinking by encouraging the belief that  rags are a breeding ground for billions of household germs that are just lurking, waiting to attack. While hygiene is truly of utmost importance, germs are not only ubiquitous in our world but a necessity for the existence of life. Be smart instead of fearful; washing your kitchen rags and towels regularly will keep you out of harm’s way.

I urge you to look at your household habits. By making the switch to durable cloth rags, dishtowels, napkins and handkerchiefs, you will not only save more green paper from your wallet, but you’ll be using a lot less in the way of resources. I *perceive* that a few extra hundred bucks in your household could go a long, long way.

“The economy” this and “the economy” that. Many people I know who never used to question their purchase power at common places like the grocery store are starting to feel a pinch in their wallet when purchasing what they consider to be their basic needs. It’s my belief that yes, our economy is slowing down, but that these market fluctuations give us a chance to re-evalute the items we spend our money on – both big ticket items like cars as well as everyday goods like paper towels.

I have certainly noticed price increases over the years and especially this year. I’ve made it a life-long habit to always take the time to think through trends, ask questions, comparison shop and utilize creative solutions when it comes to what I need in my life. As dorky as it sounds, I really like comparing ounces and prices at the grocery store – many times the opportunities I find to save are astounding.

Being raised by my grandparents gave me an insight into running my household in older, simpler (and many times more effective!) ways too. An added bonus is that often times, simpler equals not only money saved, but also resources saved. We as a society need to try to save resources and encourage thrift, even if those endeavors are not currently valued, supported or demonstrated by our government and big business.

Of course, I understand that people don’t want to compromise their modern lifestyles in any way. The good news is that you don’t have to! It’s my belief that people genuinely want to learn small ways on how to spend less and use less, but often don’t know how or where to start. That’s because most of us were raised in a generation that hasn’t encouraged thrift.

We all just need to help re-educate one another in small ways. While a post on saving money with cloth towels vs. paper towels might seem over-simplistic, I’ll bet that there’s at least one person out there who maybe never thought of the difference between the two. That’s why I’ve started this category.

I read an article in Mother Jones Magazine last fall about how the world’s oceans and beaches are getting inundated by plastic applicator trash. We as women are supposed to be closer to Mama Nature, but the tampon industry, in an effort to market ‘useful’ things, have forgotten to remind us that these applicators often end up spoiling our land.

There’s not much of anything more nasty than walking the beach after a heavy rain and seeing a used applicator poking out of the sand. Just sayin’.

After the show ended and the liquor store set was struck, all the good liquor went home with various crew members. No one ever called accounting . . . no, I’m not holding a grudge about that . . .  However, later I found that no one wanted the cases of King Cobra (or the chuck). Ain’t these people never hear’d o’ malt licka? Anyway, the set decorator was just going to throw the stuff away . . . and that’s when I had an idea!

I took all the chuck and any cases of old, hot beer that I could find and gave it away to my friends. I also took all the King Cobra home. And I saved it til the night of the next full moon. Then I put it all in the freezer for about 45 minutes, til it was nice and frosty. Then I went outside to take a peek onto the night time streets of my lovely Venice ghetto ‘hood, where, sure enough, there were crack dealers and prositutes galore. During the summer, there is alot going on out there and for some reason, the street activity picques even more during times of the full moon. So I thought I’d help out.

I brought the King Cobra outside, lined the street corner with it’s frostiness and left it sitting there for all to enjoy. I checked an hour later. No malt liquor on the sidewalk. Music pumped up a notch in the hood. Hookers dancin’ in the streets. This is how we roll in Venice.

What odd collections of things do you all have out there? And I’m not talking about shoes or lame shit like table cloths or wine glasses . . . I mean what kind of obscure collection of three things or more do you have/love/hoard/feel no special attachment to/or is a guilty pleasure?

I have a collection of monkey t-shirts. And I actually have them with me out here with the small amount of stuff I’ve brought along with me while I live on the open road. I wore one of them yesterday. Along with a monkey on each breast, the t-shirt has chinese characters on it that spell “New Person Being Born.” It ended up being my mantra for the day.

But the story of New Anna Being Born is the next post.

And now that I’m about to ride off into the sunrise for a bit and venture away from what I’ve built here at home, it occurs to me that the least I could do is give myself a road map. Upon my return, I’ll be the same ole Anna, but slightly different – and some perspective will be nice. So, I’m going to write a letter to myself within the next couple of days, seal it up and tuck it away in my studio for later perusal. I urge you to undertake this experiment as well.

Now is the perfect time to sow the seeds for later in the year. I plan on reading my letter to my future self in November, which is the height of harvest time. There’s no right or wrong way to write a letter to yourself. Lay out your dreams, hopes and goals for the year. Shower yourself with love and affection. Decorate it, stow it on your altar, squirt it with perfume, put it in a plastic bag and bury it in your yard . . . whatever you want to do with it is fine. This is personal, and most importantly, should be a fun exercise! I’m going to begin my letter with “Dear Future-AnnaBananaFanna,” decorate it with something sparkly and/or strange and tuck it away in a very safe, non-disclosed place that makes my heart feel all mushy when I think of it.

So, right now – get to writing to your future self. And don’t forget to write down a date in your calendar to remember to read it later! Or you can just check back here in November. I’ll remind you to find your letter when I’m rediscovering my own.