Switch to cloth napkins at home regularly
Why This is Green
Using cloth napkins that you wash and reuse instead of paper napkins that you use once and throw away saves natural resources (trees!) and helps minimize the amount of garbage you contribute to landfills. Science backs up this common sense choice: in a life-cycle assessment (this is a technique for assessing the environmental aspects and potential impacts of a product or process) of cloth versus paper napkins, Treehugger's Pablo Paster declared cloth the winner with about ½ the total impact.
The same assessment found linen to be more eco-friendly than cotton, in terms of both energy and water used. Any way you look at it, reusable napkins beat paper hands down. If the cloth napkins happen to be linen, vintage, or organic cotton, so much the better. Bonus: cloth makes for a prettier table.
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How To
Pull out those cloth napkins that sit in a drawer waiting for special occasions and put them to use every day. Don’t have any? Stock up. You may need more napkins than you think if you use them regularly.
To use the least amount of cloth napkins as well as laundry, assign each family member a napkin ring. That way you will know whose is whose. Have everyone hold onto his or her napkin until it truly needs a wash or to the end of the week.
Wash napkins in cold water with other clothes so the load is full.
Recommended Products
PeopleTowels
The on-the-go alternative to paper towels. Made from 100 percent organic, Fair Trade cotton. The eco-chic designs are printed with earth friendly dyes.
Use code PG2011 in the PeopleTowels store to receive 15% off your order of 2 or more PeopleTowels. Learn more about the latest eco-habit.
