Two simple, eco-friendly alternatives to cut back on paper towel waste.
One of my biggest sustainability pitfalls is overusing paper towels. Anytime there is a spill or surface to clean, fresh produce to wash and dry or tiny mouths, cheeks and hands to wipe off, paper towels are my go-to. For many of us, paper towel holders are a common fixture in the kitchen, and replacement paper towels are a regular household item on our grocery lists. But when I think about someone like my grandma who had an old-world way of living, she managed to get along fine using what she had available. Scrap fabric and left-over textiles around the house became an assortment of rags she used for various purposes.
Relying on household conveniences can be blinding sometimes, so when I realized that simple (and economical) solutions were within reach, I began to reshape how I think and take a lesson from my grandma’s playbook.
Based on how we use paper towels the most in our home, I determined a couple of sustainable alternatives that would be useful in different situations and easy to have on-hand. There are many sewing and non-sewing tutorials out there for making DIY sustainable “unpaper” towels. Consider your options and what works well for you and your lifestyle.
My goal with both of these quick projects was to make use of materials that I had readily available, and to create something I could easily wash. The first option requires no sewing and can be created using any materials you have, but an old white T-shirt works great because the rags can be bleach-washed if needed. The second option involves very basic sewing skills and a little more time, but offers a more attractive solution when you want something within quick reach on the countertop.
Regardless of how you choose to modify your paper towel use with more sustainable alternatives, swapping them out will minimize personal waste and save a little money on those big-bulk paper towel packs hogging space in the storage closet.
Option 1: Old White Tee Rags
An unneeded white T-shirt can be reused to make quick-grab rags. I like this option when cleaning glass surfaces. It’s up to you on how “tidy” you want your rags to look and fold. For me, mostly straight cuts with minimal fraying was fine.
Supplies Needed:
Old T-shirt
Sharp Scissors
Step 1: Cut sleeves
Lay the T-shirt out flat and cut off the sleeves right in front of the seam. Once your sleeves are off, find the sleeve seam and cut along beside them to open the sleeves. At that point, you can cut the seam off altogether if you prefer.
Step 2: Cut shirt
After the T-shirt is sleeveless, find the under-arm part where the sleeves were attached and cut straight across the shirt. This leaves you with two large pieces left. It’s up to you the sizes you want to cut. I was able to get 8 pieces of slightly different sizes out of one large T-shirt.
That’s it! The good news is these don’t have to be perfect. Think about making your cuts so that the sizes are most useful to your needs.
Option 2: Two-Sided Sustainable Unpaper Towels
Using a stack of discolored and worn washcloths filling space in the linen closet and some unused fabric, these two-sided reusable towels have already become a useful addition to our kitchen. Here’s a quick guide on how to make them.
Supplies Needed:
Old terrycloth washcloths/ towels
Leftover fabric
Thread
Sewing machine
Rotary cutter, scissors, cutting mat and ruler
Step 1: Measure and cut fabric
Measure the washcloths/terrycloth you have on hand and cut your fabric to the same size. Mine were generally around 10.5” x 11”, but I was working with different sizes.
Step 2: Layer the fabrics
Layer the terrycloth piece with the decorative fabric so that the sides you would like to face out are facing in. Pin around the edges, and leave a 2- to 3-inch opening so that you can turn the pieces inside out later on.
Step 3: Sew
Stitch around the edges with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, leaving that 2- to 3-inch opening on one side. When you are finished, clip the excess fabric on the corners with scissors and turn the towel inside out through the opening.
Step 4: Top stitch around the edge
Finally, finish your towel by doing a topstitch all the way around using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Now you have a new sustainable solution at your fingertips!
These simple projects make good use of materials you have around, help to minimize waste and save you a little money not buying disposal paper towels at the store.
--Jill Span Hofbauer
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