Throwing In The Towel

With a household of 3 young kids, meal times are a bit on the messy side. We could easily go through a couple of napkins or paper towels per child each meal. I could not imagine our contribution to the tons and tons of disposable paper products tossed into the garbage which end up in landfills, all the nasty pollutants released into the air and water during the manufacturing process, and the cutting down of our precious forests, all for the sake of keeping my kids’ hands and mouths clean.

So the past few months, we have committed to using reusable cloths during meal times. It took a bit of getting used to since for years we had grown accustomed to automatically grabbing a tissue paper or napkin without a thought whatsoever. Now, the kids are used to the idea and ask for a cloth every time in lieu of a napkin.

Though there are some fun napkins and hankerchiefs out there that you can purchase for this purpose (from local companies like Hankettes and Hank&Cheef), we opted to use the kids’ former baby washcloths. They are stored in a little container and placed on the kitchen counter for quick and easy access. Yes, it means a tiny bit more laundry a week, but I figure it is a more eco-friendly option for us.

Have we banned disposable napkins, tissues and paper towels from our house? No, not yet. They are still handy for those super messes where major staining might be an issue or for those picnics outdoors. But I know that we’ve greatly reduced how much we use those tossables because I can’t remember the last time I had to buy a box of Kleenex or a roll of Bounty.

≡mar