I have not used paper towels in AGES! And by ages, I mean nearly three years! I am so happy that this was one of our first changes when we took a step forward in a greener direction.
I was really surprised at how it became no big deal rather quickly. My husband admitted to me that he thought the first few weeks were dreadful without them – but then it happened! I realized that so many things we do each and every day are all just about habits and what we are used to. I thought, “wow, I wonder how many other changes that I hope to make will be just this…a matter of breaking the habit within the first few weeks until it becomes natural”?
So as our eco-story goes – we gave up the paper for the sake of little messes and replaced this with socks.
Socks?
We use all of our old socks that have a hole in the big toe or a mysteriously lost pair and we add them to our little draw-string bag that sits beneath our kitchen sink. We even use old t-shirts, sheets cut up and anything else that might soak up popsicle juice from our new bamboo floors (eeeks!).
I started finding so much joy in re-using all these things that I went LOOKING for more fabrics to add into our “non-paper towels bag” and just as I was about to use an old pair of undies to scrub the sinks – my hubby drew a line. A big fat neon line.
“NO UNDERWEAR” he gently requested in a very firm and slightly disgusted voice.
So I continue to gather my socks even today and stay far away from the underwear drawers when we get low on our supply. I have also, while shopping garage sales, bought old towels, wash cloths and sheets as a way of recycling them too. Either way – I am happy to say that our kids would probably be confused by a roll of paper towels in our home, wondering why mommy bought such large toilet paper!
