Do those hand dryers in the public restrooms REALLY save the environment?

Question

You know, those dryers that blow hot air all over your hands, you're rubbing your hands together and eventually (like after a minute) your hands are dry. On the dryer, they have a message saying "This hand dryer saves the environment by reducing the number of trees that are cut down and keeps the restroom clean by preventing unnecessary refuse."

I'd like to see a comparison of the environmental impact of one of these dryers vs. the paper towel method.

Answer 1

Hey Mathew, I just saw that very question on a CBC News show with Peter Mansbridge & his guest a specialist on going "Green". The specialist suggests that the blow dryer for hands, uses far too much electicity & exceeds the amount of paper waste by far. He also states that many places are now using refillable recycled paper, then recycling the waste paper used in washrooms & other, until the product can no longer be useful. Many areas known for their lumber as natural resources are basically tree farming now to regenerate lumber resources instead of depleating virgin lumber which is reserved for house lumber.
There are a number of websites that can give you info. to the comparisons & more. For starters try these websites,
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change
http://www.davidsuzuki.org
http://www.clickforcleanair.org

P.S. - NO ONE HAS ADDRESSED THE ENERGY TO
CREATE THE HOT AIR BLOWER vs. CUTTING
TREES & PROCESSING THEM INTO PAPER?
or
AFTER THE H.A.B. MACHINE IS NO LONGER
RUNNING OR IS OBSOLETE, WHERE DOES A
LARGE PORTION END UP... perhaps the dump?

Answer 2

Yes, it does cost to run the electricity to use the hand dryer, but there is a substantial savings vs using virgin paper or even recycled paper.

There's a pretty good comparison on the attached site.

By the way, I was over in London a while back, and I noticed that the European hand dryers seemed to dry my hands better than the ones here in the states.

Answer 3

Due to the reduction in litter and waste in comparison with paper towels (which cannot be recycled), hand dryers are also liked for their kindness to the environment. One source claims that an average fast-food restaurant using paper towels, annually, results in 9 fully-grown trees being cut down, and 1,000 pounds of landfill waste created (paper towels alone amount to 35% of landfill space currently used), though many are often unaware of these consequences.[4] Even before the paper towels are used, each ton has claimed 20,000 gallons of water in chemical cleansing.[5]

wikipedia. its the shiznit.

Answer 4

Hehehe. *Shame* on you for not being a good little 'sheeple' and blindly believing what you're told by people in authority ☺

They probably cause far more greenhouse gasses to be produced for generating the electricity which runs them.

HTH ☺

Doug

Answer 5

There's no denying that it takes less trees to make one of them... There's no paper whatsoever. Why else would they be harmful? They just blow hot air