No Paper Towels

We’ve had a lot of people visit lately and one of the questions that everyone asked was, “where are your paper towels?”  Oh, paper towels.  We haven’t used them for a few years now.  I always forget this until someone new visits though.

Our drawer of towels

“But what about when you clean your sink or counter or something really messy?” you ask.  Well, we use a towel.  Then we wash it.

“Doesn’t that just create more laundry?”  Well, kind of.  I’ve never had an entire load of kitchen towels!  It does add to the existing loads but they’re small towels that don’t take up much room.  I haven’t had to increase the frequency of doing laundry either.   They just fit right into my normal loads.

There's usually at least one towel hanging on the stove.

“But doesn’t it cost more to purchase kitchen towels?” According to Trent from The Simple Dollar any job requiring more than one paper towel (like big spills) or when you could use the same towel more than once (like drying your hands) it costs less to use a kitchen towel than a paper towel. 

If you’re looking to save money and reuse something that has already fulfilled its original purpose, use an old t-shirt.  Cut it into any size you’d like.  This is a great repurpose for any shirts with stains or holes!  Plus, it might make you smile when you use that old, faded Bare Naked Ladies t-shirt again.  There are usually vintage dish towels at yard sales and resale shops if you’ve already donated all your concert t-shirts.

Reusing a kitchen towel reduces your waste both financially and at the curb… maybe even enough to skip a week of waste removal. ;) 

It’s really not that hard.  This little thing has become so easy for us that we don't even think about paper towels anymore.  If you use a “real” towel to dry your hands in your bathroom, it’s the same idea.  (Please don’t tell me you use paper towels in your bathroom! Please.) 

Even if you only use a towel some of the time, it's something.  What's your favorite thing about kitchen towels?

Peace,

Stacey