4 months without paper towels or tissues

**lullaby80** · 08-14-2007, 08:55 PM

We're celebrating our fourth month without any paper towels or tissues. The idea behind this was to try and see if we could live without them since they were needed constantly and seemed like such a big waste. We have completely eliminated the need for them and use kitchen towels for drying hands and dishes (separate towels of course), cloth napkins for napkins (duh),cut up old towels for cleaning and hankerchiefs (sp?) instead of tissues. Granted, the beginning was hard being so used to reaching for paper products but now I could not imagine buying any. The only extra work this requires is one extra load of laundry per week, thats all!! Not only are we saving money but saving the planet as well. I just wanted to share this in case it made anyone else curious in trying this.

**boogiemum** · 08-14-2007, 09:03 PM

We have cut out paper napkins and use cloth, and mostly use rags as paper towels. I have yet to do tissues though. We only use recycled, but I should give it the go all the way and not use any. Thanks for the inspiration!

**claimsgirl66** · 08-14-2007, 09:16 PM

I applaud your efforts. I have cut back on my paper napkin and paper towel use. I try to use my cloth napkins most of the time and I think I have bought one roll of papertowels this year! Thanks for the words of wisdom and reminder it CAN be done!

**latierra84** · 08-14-2007, 09:51 PM

ive tried and tried to get this house using dishrags and cut up old towels instead of paper towels in the kitchen. they must be getting thrown away when im asleep because i can never find them!! i bought two pack so small dish towels from walmart at the beginning of the summer. i think its 15 or so to a pack for three dollars and im down to maybe four. thats it!! maybe the cat's been stealing them................. hmm.....

great job on completing four months!

**frugalfarmwife** · 08-14-2007, 10:53 PM

We also cut them out, yep it can be done!

To funny, my friends hubby INSISTS on always having at least 3 boxes of Kleenex in the house, lol.

kj

**Judi Dial** · 08-14-2007, 11:05 PM

We still use tissues, but we only use them when we have colds, so that's not a lot. We've always used cloth napkins and placemats; I started doing that when I was in high school, after the first Earthday, which tells you how old I am!

We use brown paper (unprinted side) of bags, if we have any, or just b & w print on newspaper to drain fatty foods. One thing that has helped that a lot is buying a wok strainer. Instead of using tongs and putting the fried food on paper, I fish them out of the cooking solution and let them drain a lot before I put them on paper. It really helps cut down the amount of paper I needed.

btw, I never pour hot pasta water out any more to drain my pasta. I use the wok strainer to pull the pasta out of the water. We eat, then I throw out the (now cooler) water. I got scaled one time too many, and I'm getting older, don't want to take the risks I used to without thinking about them!

Anyway, I guess you can tell I really like my wok strainer. I haven't used the wok for years, it's in the attic somewhere, but I bought a 2nd, smaller wok strainer because I used it so much!

jd

**Odilia** · 08-14-2007, 11:14 PM

Great job! We've been paper free (except TP!) for over 6 years. The first few months were the hardest, so you've already made it!

**baxjul** · 08-15-2007, 07:15 AM

YAY! Congratulations! I haven't used any in a couple of years! It saves alot of money also!

**TheRootedNomad** · 08-15-2007, 07:24 AM

Great job!!!!

**nuisance26** · 08-15-2007, 08:38 AM

~That's really great! I go through about 4 rolls of paper towels a year. I use them to drain fried foods. We don't get a newspaper so I can't use that. I use cloth wipes for the kids noses and tissues for ours. We go through 4 boxes a year. Also do the cloth napkins thing. I don't think I'd want to cut paper out entirely but it's nice to know that it can be done in a pinch. Do you keep disposable options in the house for guests?~

**Dancing Lotus** · 08-15-2007, 09:33 AM

Napkins was the first to go in this house! I still keep paper towels around but we almost never use them. Tissues I wont give up. oh well- atleast we cut back.

**TreasureFinder** · 08-15-2007, 06:53 PM

I eliminated paper plates, and I don't buy napkins (although I use paper towels for this). I've cut down on my tissue and paper towel usage significantly, but with allergies and a germ phobia, I can't see myself getting rid of them completely. Every little bit of avoiding helps, though.

**lullaby80** · 08-15-2007, 07:29 PM

Glad to hear others have done this too or are inspired by it.

The only time I've ever really missed paper towels have been when I've wanted to cook a potato in the microwave. What do you use instead? This shouldn't even be an issue anymore since DS eats what we eat but when he first started solids it would've been very helpful.

Originally Posted by nuisance26

Do you keep disposable options in the house for guests?~

No, I don't have disposable options for guests. I did by some paper napkins for DS's first birthday but the party got cancelled since he had a stomach flu so we'll just use them next year instead. But funny that you asked, when DS was born my parents came for a visit. My dad got so upset that we didn't have any paper napkins that he went to the store and bought himself some, lol. We really don't even think about the guest aspect of this since we hadly ever have visitors and when we do, they're all family.

**Sari** · 08-16-2007, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by lullaby80

The only time I've ever really missed paper towels have been when I've wanted to cook a potato in the microwave. What do you use instead?

I've never used a paper towel to cook a potato - just clean, poke holes, put in microwave on the potato setting.

**britbunny** · 08-17-2007, 11:38 AM

Well done!

As someone else has said the first couple of months are the most difficult.

We stopped buying paper towels a couple of years ago and don't miss it at all - saves us so much cash too. We also have fabric napkins and hankies, and realyy like them (as much as that is possible! lol) Feels a little more indulgent to me to have a nice linen napkin or a fresh cotton hankie rather than just a rough old paper thing :-)