Throughout the day, I catch myself constantly ripping paper towels off the holder in my kitchen. It wasn’t until recently that I realized why my roommates and I were buying them so often—we were using them when we didn’t need to.

Paper towels can be convenient to clean up spills and messes, but do you really need them to dry your hands? Probably not. If your hands are clean, it makes more sense to dry them off with a hand towel or rag. Adding a hand towel rotation into your kitchen isn’t only more sustainable for the planet, it also makes your life easier. Another alternative or substitute to paper towels are flour sack towels. These are a cheap option that will last you forever. All you need to do is wash them, and they are good to go again. I recommend keeping 2 flour sack towels in rotation in the kitchen; one for hand and dish drying, and one for cleaning up spills and messes. 

Still skeptical? Here are some reasons why a hand towel in the kitchen will benefit your life and our planet: 

• Fewer trips to the store for paper towels
• Cheaper
• Your kitchen trash won’t fill up as fast
• Less emissions connected to paper towel manufacturing
• Less extraction of natural resources
• Reduces landfill waste

Using only paper towels may seem like the more convenient option, but it’s not; it only seems more convenient because you rip it off and throw it away immediately without having to wash anything. Imagine only using plastic forks, knives, and spoons instead of using real silverware. While this is a more extreme example of using single-use materials, it’s not so different from using only single-use paper towels. Both are more expensive than their reusable counterparts and produce unnecessary non-recyclable waste. When you start to consider the impact these products have on the environment, it’s clear that switching to reusable towels and rags in the kitchen is the environmentally – and economically – friendlier option.

By Sean McCarthy