Extra, Extra, Read all about it – easy ways to lower your home’s single-use paper products!

Tackling single-use paper products was easier for me than plastics, and I think that’s because the solutions are pretty straight forward for the most part…the answer nine times out of ten being cloth.

Paper Towels

Before quicker picker uppers came neatly rolled on a brown cardboard tube and covered in a thin layer of plastic, people kept towels folded in drawers, hanging on the handle of fridges, ovens, and dishwashers. They were used as needed and washed weekly with the rest of the laundry.

Now, to be clear, not all towels are created equal. I have different towels for different purposes. There are the ones that are best for drying dishes, the ones I use more for food, there are the hand towels, the decorative towels, and of course they are all seasonal. For myself, the fabric and design usually determine the towel’s primary roll. A towel may start off as decorative or for light use, but as time passes and it begins to show it’s wear and tare, it moves on to bigger and tougher jobs until it eventually reaches the end of its life cycle. Unfortunately, I don’t have any great solutions yet for worn out fabric. They end up being tossed, but at least the life cycle takes years rather than seconds!

Another easy solution I like to use in my kitchen are the swedish paper towels. There are many with pretty designs, and they are easy to wash. All you need to do to wash them is run them through the dishwasher. I like to tuck mine under the large utensil holder on the top rack. It couldn’t be easier, and there’s no additional laundry!

I purchased my first set of swedish paper towels a little over a year ago, and they are still going strong. I only have 4, and it’s almost too much. Two would be enough for my family since they are washed whenever I run the dishwasher.

To transition my family off of paper towels, I started by putting out more cloth towels and moving the paper towels to a spot where they were inconvenient. For us, that spot was under the sink, and since our daughter was a toddler, that also meant that they were behind one of the door that had been child-proofed. Switching to primarily using dish towels required a mental shift, but it wasn’t a huge transition to make.

Do we still have paper towels under the sink? Yes!

Are there still things I don’t want to use a cloth towel for, and I put in the effort to reach for a paper towel? Yes!

Do we go through paper towels at the speed of light any more? No!

Is there more laundry?…A little, but it’s negligible, and I don’t mind it since it’s a change I honestly feel really good about.

Napkins

After we had been off of paper towels for a while (like a year or two), I decided to address our paper napkin usage. We had moved away from paper towels, why not napkins too?

First, we found cloth napkins we loved; and I say “we” because it was really my husband who found them, loved them, and pushed for us to buy them. Then, we felt FANCY! Oh my goodness, did using cloth napkins make any old meal time feel special. It did eventually ware off, but that was certainly an unexpected perk.

To clarify, cloth napkins are not meant to be used once, and thrown in the wash. Our napkins (assuming they don’t get super dirty) are used for several days, and changed a few times a week. We usually will leave them at our respective places at the table, or, especially when we have guests, we use different folds, knots, and napkin rings to tell them apart.

Do we still have paper napkins? Yes! I especially prefer them when people have been sick, or a meal is particularly messy/will stain even the darkest of cloth napkins.

When was the last time I had to purchase paper napkins? I haven’t a clue, they are used so infrequently.

Is there more laundry? Sure, but again it’s nothing tremendous, and it’s a change we feel really good about.

The Laundry

I. Hate. Laundry. It is by far and away my least favorite household chore. That said, implementing these changes hasn’t added so much extra laundry that it makes much difference, it’s all just thrown in with the towels, and it’s easy laundry, not like we’ve added an extra fitted sheet to the load every week.

The Other Stuff

The only other place I can think of where I have replaced single use paper in the kitchen is when I bake. I used to use parchment paper on my cookie sheets, but I have replaced that with the silicone baking mats and they’ve been wonderful. They also don’t have a heat limit to them the way parchment paper does making them more versatile and easier to use.

The silicone baking mats are also great for when I need to roll something out, I put the baking sheets on the counter before flouring the surface. Then, there’s less mess and it’s easier to clean up.

I hope my perspective is helpful and encouraging as you venture on your journey to sustainability, I would love to hear what’s worked, what hasn’t and any other ideas you have, or solutions you’re looking for! Do you have anything else you’ve been able to replace around the house? Comment Below!

Looking for some ideas to lower or eliminate your usage of plastics in the kitchen? Here I talk about the simple swaps I made to make my kitchen (mostly) plastic free.