Tip: Switch to cloth napkins regularly
It’s not as clear cut as you think, but in a life cycle assessment of a cloth versus a paper napkin, Treehugger’s Pablo Paster declared cloth the winner. For households only. He also assumed that the napkins were not washed separately or every time they were used. And the benefits were even bigger if they are linen, not cotton. (Phew! Quite a few assumptions). But the conclusion was that cloth used about 1/2 the total impact of paper napkins.
What was most surprising about the analysis, at least to us at Practically Green, was how green linen was, both in terms of energy and water.
Pull out that linen that has been sitting only used once a year since your wedding, or stock up on fun designs. You may need more napkins than you realize to stay stocked. We’ve heard a useful tip to keep quantity down is to assign each family member a napkin ring and napkin have them keep “their” napkin until it truly needs a wash or the end of the week. Wash them in cold water with other loads.
For more fab green tips, or to create your own personalized action plan – check out my friends over at
Images:
http://practicallygreen.com/
http://www.recycledlovelies.com/2010/03/03/easy-diy-cloth-napkins/
Oh my goodness I’m afraid that we would need a lifetime supply daily! How would somebody handle this with really messy kids around? I’m willing to give it a shot but just really not sure about how many I would need for our family of 5 or how often I would be washing them.
Hey Jen! We have a family of four and I bought several sets from a garage sale and put them in a fun basket! I bet we have maybe 12 or so? I love the idea PG gives though on each family member re-using their napkin until it is gross. One thing especially is that we try to make sure to hang them to dry so we aren’t using a bunch of energy drying all those things! It really looks pretty though at our table and the kids have had fun picking pretty ones! Let us know how it goes!
We’ve been using cloth napkins for some time now … and we love them. I never thought about the material they are made of, though … that’s a great tip (kinda “cloth napkins kicked up a notch” lol). I must have about 30 napkins … for two people … I know … wow. But I can’t resist them when I see them at thrift stores or flea markets. They usually sell for a ridiculously low price and I like having a huge variety of them. When we have guests, we’re totally covered. For hubby and I, we reuse them until they are noticeably dirty (or smelly). Then I just toss them in the basket to was with a normal load. The great thing about having so many is that I never need to wash just to have more napkins.
Great post! Thanks!