If I wipe up a mess with paper towels, I am supporting the cutting down of trees (for paper) and the use of chemicals including bleach in their manufacture. But I can put them in the paper recycle bin. If I wipe up a mess with cloth towels, I need to wash them (which uses electricity and detergents... both of which have to be manufactured). So do paper or cloth towels have less overall impact on the environment?
2006-12-27 19:58:28 · 9 answers · asked by rumplestiltskin12357 3 in Environment
Both are affecting the environment. Actually it depends on the effective usage. If you are really concerned abt environment you can try to use paper or colth effectively.
2006-12-27 20:07:10 · answer #1 · answered by dhanesh_y2k 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Obviously Paper Towels.
We need to consume resources (natural as well as financial) to manufacture both the forms of towels. But the resource consumption at the operating level is minimal for the Paper towels.
So, I think Paper towels are eco friendly.
2006-12-27 20:10:16 · answer #2 · answered by GS 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cloth-- how often do you wipe up a big mess that requires washing the towels immediatly afterwards? And if your answer is in fact often, then you should always buy and keep about 10 cloth towels at once. From my experience, people reguraly use more paper towels at one time then necessary, where as you can't use too many cloth towels at once.
I hope that made sense, lol.
2006-12-27 20:09:00 · answer #3 · answered by emmathefirst 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
first of all, you can NOT recycle used paper towels. the only thing you can do there is be sure to buy paper towels that are from recycled paper. the cloth can be used many times and your soap needn't be harmful to the environment. look into some biodegradable brands, such as Sun & Earth or Dr. Bronner's
my answer is cloth is better
2006-12-28 01:58:55 · answer #4 · answered by izaboe 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rags are more beneficial in case you do not wash them too in many circumstances - basically rinse them out. if you're worried about germs (which maximum human beings are waaaaay too in touch about besides) then you extremely can use some tea tree oil or cleansing soap with tea tree oil for that's antibacterial sources. in case you need to, you should use a delicate bleach or ammonia answer. yet save in options, some thing that kills "germs" will kill any helpful microorganisms besides. once you do wash them, use a biodegradable cleansing soap extremely of a detergent. detergent = solvents + surfactants (unnatural and polluting) cleansing soap = fat + lye (organic and bigger for the ecosystem) in case you experience you need to apply paper towels, purchase some that are made from recycled paper with a minimum of 30% post-shopper content cloth, and which at the on the spot are not bleached or at the on the spot are not bleached utilizing chlorine.
2016-12-01 06:18:02 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both, for different things. The point is to stage their usage, so the job is progressively dirtier. When I had a detail biz, I bought high grade paper towels and washed them to death, 6,7,8 times in a low water usage washer. I still needed cotton for other jobs. So re-use, and max use per cycle is the best answer, not either or.
2006-12-27 20:13:30 · answer #6 · answered by Don Quixote de Kaw 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Both are dangerous...
More tress are cut in order to generate paper. Due to this there is a rapid increase in global warming and there is an ecological unbalance in lifegeocycle.
And I dont feel the need to tell that harms of pollution..everyone knows it.
2006-12-27 20:12:05 · answer #7 · answered by EnigmaticEncounter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't recycle paper towels. Maybe you are putting them in there but I guarantee you they are not actually being recycled. Please see source below.
2006-12-27 20:10:48 · answer #8 · answered by Some D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both are renewable resources,just use them wisely.
2006-12-29 02:07:22 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋