Cloth in the kitchen

The combination of paper towels, paper napkins, and little ones making messes in the kitchen can add up to A LOT of waste and A LOT of money.  I see the huge packages of paper towels at the store and imagine the amount of chemicals and energy it took to make a product that will quickly end up in the landfill.  Granted there are many things we use that have a similar lifecycle.  But using disposable paper in the kitchen is an area I feel like we can eliminate with relative ease and affordability.

Cloth Napkins

Several years ago, I was perusing a neighborhood yardsale and found a cute set of yellow cloth napkins.  At the time, I was in the planning stages for my wedding and thought these napkins would be a nice "grown up" addition to our future kitchen.  I tried to talk the lady down to .50 for the set, but she was insistent on $1 firm.  I felt a little defeated, but figured I could afford to part with $1.  The rest of our cloth napkin stash was made complete at our wedding reception where we received four more red and green plaid napkins from our registry.  So in all we have around 10 napkins that we switch out every couple of days when we can no longer find a clean spot to wipe our mouths. :)  I envision needing to add to this collection as we add to our family, but we definitely have enough for the three of us right now.

Unpaper Towels

I've seen on several other blogs and etsy where you can make or purchase "unpaper towels."  These fancy cloth rolls are typically patterned and have snaps so that the "sheets" of cloth can attach to one another.  These rolls can fit on a paper towel holder and function much like a disposable paper towel roll would.

While I think it would be cute to have a nice roll of cloth paper towels, I've managed to survive on the towels and rags I've collected over time.  Think outside the box... or in the case the roll.  A paper towel is meant to clean up larger spills.  So as long as a rag or towel is handy, does it really need to be in the shape of a roll?  Not for me anyway.  I look forward to the day when all my children (present and future) are completely potty trained and I can add their prefold diapers to my kitchen collection.  They are SUPER absorbent!

In order to cut down on the spread of germs, I have tried to institute a policy that solid towels hanging on the oven door are for drying hands; patterned towels hanging near the sink are for drying dishes.  Also I rotate out all of my rags and towels on an almost daily basis.  I can't stand soggy or stiff towels when I'm drying my hands!

To be fair, I do keep a roll of disposable paper towels in my kitchen for guests that might not know where my rags and towels are stored.  I like to joke with my mom that she's a paper towel hog. :)  I typically buy one roll every two months or so unless she's been over.  Then half the roll is gone before she goes home.  :)  (love you Mom! you taught me to keep my kitchen clean, and for that I am eternally grateful!)

So it's seems pretty easy to end our disposable paper product obsession in the kitchen with just a little bit of resourcefulness and a small amount of investment!  Cut up and reuse old ragged bathroom towels, scour yardsales for cloth napkins, repurpose old undershirts... you get the picture.  And clean up is a breeze.  Keep a tub under the sink to collect the dirty cloth or go fancy and buy a wetbag to hang on the pantry door.  Then simply throw all of your kitchen cloth in with your dishrag and hand towel laundry. Not much harder than throwing in the trash can!

What are other areas in your home where you can apply these same ideas?