Which way is more environmentally friendly, paper towels or that hot air machine?
2006-07-06 09:32:10 · 16 answers · asked by my brain hurts 5 in Environment
the hot air machine uses electrical energy - generated at power plant usually coal-based (fossil fuel). The pollution caused by such stations are detrimental to the environment esp. in the line of global warming. Paper towels are a waste of good timber, i think best to use cloth towels and then clean them afterward and re-use them. Even better, use your own clothes or cloth or wait a while that your hands be dried naturally by the air.
2006-07-06 09:38:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well... a paper towel uses wood as raw material and thus means a tree was lost in the process. Hot air machine, on the other hand, uses electrical energy, probably from a nuclear power plant or hydroelectric power plant. The tree could have come from a man-made replanted forest or from clear cut pristine wildtrees. The electricity, if it came from a nuclear powerplant, entails the implicit cost of radioactive waste disposal and thermal pollution to the area surrounding the plant. If it came from a hydroelectric powerplant, it entails that a river was dammed, disrupting local ecology. And last but not least, after using the paper towel, you have to discard it, making a very miniscule contribution to your local landfill.
The notion "environmentally friendly" is a relative concept. It depends on your point of view. Add up the facts and decide for yourself.
2006-07-06 09:47:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I like paper towels better. I don't know that it's more environmentally friendly though.....I just hate those hot air machines.
2006-07-06 09:36:34 · answer #3 · answered by classic_tigger 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Paper towels.
Less energy goes into harvesting trees, pulping them, and making paper. Also, and this is kind of gross, but most public rest rooms ship their bath room trash to recycling plants now a days instead of land fills.
In the case of the blower, even though the electricity is already there the blows are usually 200 to 250 watts. They often don't dry your hands so you have to use them 2 or 3 times. And unlike the paper neither the hot air, nor the used electricity can be "renewed", "reused" or "recycled".
2006-07-06 12:01:58 · answer #4 · answered by boter_99 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The hot air machine
2006-07-06 09:39:37 · answer #5 · answered by Maurus B. 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hot air is considered more environmentally friendly, but it uses energy to work, and paper towels are made from trees, hmm, seems like a no -win situation to me.
2006-07-06 09:36:17 · answer #6 · answered by prettypixie1997 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hot air machine.
2006-07-06 09:35:20 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hot air machine. It does not waste paper. And people have a tendency to use more than one piece of paper thus causing a lot of wastage.
2006-07-06 16:50:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A hot air machine that has a sensor so it doesn't continue running after the person walked away.
2006-07-06 09:36:06 · answer #9 · answered by A Designer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hot air MIGHT be better,but I still have to use paper towels when I can because I try to use them to get out the door if possible.That cuts back on the spread of germs.If you don't get sick because you don't have to touch the nasty door handle,you are saving more paper by not using tons of tissues for your nose.You save energy by not having to drive to see the doctor,having more medicine made,and having to pick it up.I must say,I'm proud of you because you wash your hands AND you're concerned about the environment.Good for you!
2006-07-06 18:52:27 · answer #10 · answered by kimberli 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋