Paper Towels, Napkins & Tissues - Bah Humbug

I have to post about this because it is just killing me. When I was searching through the flyiers yesterday I was shocked to notice the cost of paper towels, napkins and tissus (Kleenex, etc.) Good grief. They cost a fortune. Makes me wonder how much a year I save on these. How can I save so much? Simple, I haven't bought any of these in probably 15+ years. Yes I said that. I don't use paper towels or napkins or tissues. I stopped buying paper towels when my kids were about 6, 7 and 8 years old. That's about the time I guess that I got into recycling. I noticed one day how many paper towels and napkins we used a day. I was shocked. Then I noticed how the commercials were always talking about how they were making their paper towels stronger so that they could be rung out and reused. You know the commercial I am talking about. The one where they ring out the paper towel under water, shake it out and make you think you can use it again. Then it dawned on me (o.k. I'm a little slow at times), why not just use washrags instead. That's exactly what I've been doing for years and I don't regret it at all. Once a year or so I would go to Wal-Mart and buy a bundle of wash rags for about $3 and that's what we use. I have wash rags for the bathroom and wash rags in the kitchen and they work just fine.

Napkins.......stopped using those about the same time. We use cloth napkins instead. I don't go out and buy fancy ones...I pick them up at yard sales every couple of years because they last a long time. You can usually get them any where from $.50 for 4 to $1 for 4 at a yard sale. I only purchase ones that look like they have never been used. Trust me you can tell. And yes, I've had several comments made from people visiting my house for dinner. One person was offended because she felt like I was trying to be uppity (is that a word). I explained why I did it but she still didn't like it. Oh well.....I don't have her grocery bill. Woo Hoo and then some.

Tissues took me a little bit longer, but I can gladly say that those are no longer purchased in my house either. Hankies are the thing around here. Every year at Christmas time you can expect to get about 5 or 6 new hankies. I have to admit that I have only been using the hankies for about 6 years (remember, I said I was a little slow), but my husband sort of nudged me into. No, he wasn't a hanky kind of guy, but I got so tired of seeing napkins from all of the fast food restaurants in the glove compartment of the car, I had to do something. I remembered that my grand father always had one so I decided to invest in a couple from Wal-Mart (cost was $.99 each) just to see how he liked it. He loved them and he no longer had to worry about keeping napkins from the fast food restaurants in his car. Now he couldn't live without his hankies.

It's a personal choice I know, but every time I see the flyers I know that I am doing my part in saving the land fills. We empty all of the trash cans in the house on Wednesday night (trash day on Thursday) and dump everything into the kitchen trash bag. We put one bag a week out for trash and recycle everything else.

I don't regret it at all. Just a thought, but next time you go to the grocery store, look at how much you are paying for paper towels, napkins and tissues and then weigh the difference. Start small. Start with paper towels and see if you could do without buying them and use wash cloths instead. I mean think about it....what do you normally use a paper towel for...to wipe up a little spill....a wash cloth can do the same thing. What's one bundle of wash cloths from Wal-Mart versus what you pay for paper towels yearly. Make it an experiment with the kids. Trust me you'll be glad you made the switch.