I love trees. No doubt I am the epitome of the classic tree hugger. Trees are amazing, they do so much for us and the planet. Just one acre of trees can absorb the amount of carbon produced by a car driving up to 8700 miles and because trees “by nature” have a cooling effect, one tree is the equivalent of two air conditioners.
This is the reason why paper products plague me. While we need these products, it also means that trees get chopped down. Every time I walk down an aisle in a store and see the shelves of paper towels and facial tissue, I cringe because most of these products come from old-growth forests, not recycled paper.
Many manufacturers are clear-cutting and logging forests for these products. That means we lose all the benefits of trees like oxygen, water filtration, carbon absorption, cooling of the planet, and home for wildlife for a one-time use deal. Not only are we losing the benefits of trees, but the process of creating paper products is intense on the environment. Creighton University reports it takes 17 trees and 20,000 gallons of water to make just 1 ton of paper towels.
Norwex counter cloths are a great alternative to wiping countertops and they remove up to 99% of bacteria from the surface. No need to use paper towels that came from an ancient forest along with having to buy a disinfectant to wipe my counters. Even better, the cloth itself is made from 64% recycled yarn. It’s a sustainable, eco-friendly, and reusable way to save some dough and save trees.
Photo courtesy of Maxim Hopman on Unsplash.
Resources:
1. Creighton University. “Forest or Paper Towels.” Volume 2, Issue 4. https://www.creighton.edu/fileadmin/user/sustainability/docs/creighton-9.pdf
2. Kamprad, Dennis. Impactful.Ninja. “Are Paper Towels Sustainable?”. 2024. https://impactful.ninja/are-paper-towels-sustainable/
3. Woodland Tree. “Terrains’ Tips: Fun Facts about Trees.” https://www.woodlandtree.com/terrans-tips/posts/fun-facts-about-trees#:~:text=Trees%20keep%20our%20air%20supply,costs%20by%202.1%20billion%20dollars.
