{"id":435,"date":"2009-09-24T09:41:25","date_gmt":"2009-09-24T15:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/?p=435"},"modified":"2009-09-24T09:56:40","modified_gmt":"2009-09-24T15:56:40","slug":"the-green-apple-bye-bye-paper-towels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/24\/the-green-apple-bye-bye-paper-towels\/","title":{"rendered":"The Green Apple: Bye Bye Paper Towels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lately I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been trying my best to take some steps toward more natural, less wasteful living.\u00c2\u00a0 In addition to eating less processed foods, there are many steps I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m taking around the house.\u00c2\u00a0 Using more natural cleaning products instead of harsh chemicals, conserving our energy usage, more recycling and less waste.<\/p>\n

\"Linen

image from Pottery Barn<\/p><\/div>\n

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One of the easiest changes for us has been switching from paper to cloth napkins for meals.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a serious paper towel addiction, but by using cloth napkins at meal time, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve greatly reduced our paper towel usage.\u00c2\u00a0 I purchased some cute linen napkins (ours are the “Flax” color) that I enjoy looking at.\u00c2\u00a0 Using cloth napkins has the added bonus of making meals feel much more sophisticated too!<\/p>\n

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\"Linen

image from Pottery Barn<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

But I do have a confession:\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still having a hard time using these napkins for The Littlest Apple at meal time.\u00c2\u00a0 As with any 2 year old, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just SO MESSY, and as silly as this sounds, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want my pretty cloth napkins getting dirty!\u00c2\u00a0 Goofy right?!\u00c2\u00a0 I still use wet wipes to clean The Littlest Apple after each meal, though I’m trying really hard to switch him to cloth napkins too.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve also tried using a damp kitchen towel for The Littlest Apple, but I’m not sold on that method either.\u00c2\u00a0 The Little Apple hates the damp towel method because it always winds up too cold for him, no matter how warm the water is in the faucet.\u00c2\u00a0 And what do you do with your damp towel when you’re done?\u00c2\u00a0 Rinse and save for the next mealtime mess?\u00c2\u00a0 If so, where to store it in the meantime?\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe I need some additional towel hanging space.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m pretty sure I’m over thinking this!<\/p>\n

Household cleaning: I’ve also cut back my paper towel usage for cleaning up around the house.\u00c2\u00a0 I use newspaper for cleaning mirrors and old tshirts for dusting.\u00c2\u00a0 I now wipe down my counters with cloths like these which can be run through the dishwasher or washing machine:<\/p>\n

\"Cleaning<\/a><\/p>\n

Washing and drying produce: This is an area I still use paper towels more than I’d like.\u00c2\u00a0 We eat lots of fruit at our house, and I am constantly washing and drying grapes, strawberries, blueberries, apples, etc.\u00c2\u00a0 I typically use a paper towel to dry them because I feel like the paper towels absorb more water than my cloth towels….am I just not using the right kind of towels or drying method?\u00c2\u00a0 I know this is another easy place I can cut back my paper towel usage.<\/p>\n

Art and craft messes:\u00c2\u00a0 Yet another area where I usually reach for paper towels or wet wipes.\u00c2\u00a0 The Littlest Apple and I do art frequently, and he HATES having paint or marker on his hands.\u00c2\u00a0 It is so easy to grab a paper towel, but wouldn’t it be just as easy (and effective?) to use a cloth instead?\u00c2\u00a0 I’m going to focus on changing this next, at least when it is just the two of us.<\/p>\n

\"Fingerpainting\"<\/p>\n

Guests: Not everyone is on board with this “greener” lifestyle, and visitors to my house tend to reach for the paper towels first and frequently<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 For now I’m letting it slide.\u00c2\u00a0 I know how awkward it can be trying to figure out which towel to use for what in a hostess’s house, and then what to do with the used towels?\u00c2\u00a0 For those of you making an effort to reduce your paper towel consumption, how do you deal with guests who reach for paper towels? And what would happen if I didn’t have any paper towels on hand?\u00c2\u00a0 As much as I’d love to just stop buying paper towels all together, I get a little freaked out just thinking about that….I’m hosting an weekly art playgroup <\/em>starting next week for eight kids (two and three year olds).\u00c2\u00a0 Yikes!\u00c2\u00a0 How will I survive without my beloved paper towels?!<\/p>\n

I know this post hasn’t provided lots of answers or advice, but I wanted to share my thoughts as I’m starting out on this journey toward less consumption and less waste.\u00c2\u00a0 I know using cloth napkins at meal times is drop in the bucket (especially when we’re still using disposable diapers, among other things).\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the celebrity equivalent of buying a Prius when you also own a Range Rover and a Porshe.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s a start, and I’m eager to take the next step.<\/p>\n

Do you use paper towels?\u00c2\u00a0 Wet wipes?\u00c2\u00a0 What steps are you taking to reduce your paper towel consumption?\u00c2\u00a0 I’d love to hear about any tips or products!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lately I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been trying my best to take some steps toward more natural, less wasteful living.\u00c2\u00a0 In addition to eating less processed foods, there are many steps I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m taking around the house.\u00c2\u00a0 Using more natural cleaning products instead of harsh chemicals, conserving our energy usage, more recycling and less waste. One of the easiest changes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homekeeping","category-the-green-apple"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":451,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions\/451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}