Many of us carry out similar routines at restaurants, stores or an establishment with a public restroom. After using the facilities, we thoroughly wash our hands with soap and water, grab a bunch of paper towels, crumple them into balls, quickly dry our hands and toss the resulting garbage in the trash can on our way out.
We complete the process quickly and without thought, never to think of our paper towel encounter again or what happens to it after it gets picked up and taken to the landfill.
Its difficult to imagine something as simple as paper towel waste could have such a serious and devastating environmental impact, but the facts cant be ignored. As many as 51,000 trees per day are required to replace the number of paper towels used in the same amount of time. Globally, this amounts to 254 million tons of trash each year. Thats a lot of waste that ends up directly in our landfill.
While its been easy for my family of four to cut down on our paper towel usage in our home, we struggle when were outside the home to minimize our impact. I usually have my hands filled with either shopping bags or one of my children and the thought of limiting my paper towel usage is not on the forefront of my mind.
Then I learned through an engaging TEDx talk held in Portland, Oregon that there is a smarter and easier technique for drying my hands that doesnt require handfuls of paper towel or any more time and trouble.
Through his quick and fun video, Joe Smith demonstrates the technique he created: the shake and fold. It sounds like a silly dance routine but is actually a remarkably simple and efficient way to reduce the effect paper towel waste has on our environment.
Instead of grabbing a handful of paper towels, simply shake your hands twelve times, and then use a single, folded sheet to dab off the remaining moisture.
According to Smith, if everyone decided to dry off their hands with just one sheet, that would use 571 million less pounds of paper every year. That’s equivalent to nearly 5 million trees, which is something we can all breathe easy about.
I was unsure at first, so I decided to put Smiths method to the ultimate test. Could I successfully complete the shake and fold while managing the kids and my things?
His method not only passed with flying colors, but beat out my multiple paper towel ball clumping method! See for yourself and save a tree while you are at it!
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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