Use eco-friendly cleaning and personal hygiene products.
Welcome to Week 23 of the 50 Ways to Reduce Your Waste Line. Last week, we invited you to bring your own reusable containers for beverages. This week we ask you to use eco-friendly cleaning and personal hygiene products.
In Canada, paper towels are readily available and are widely used to maintain cleanliness and hygiene. However, what are the costs to our environment?
Over 700,000 tonnes of disposable tissue products are used each year in Canada, much of which is produced from ancient forests, like the Boreal forest in Canada. The average Canadian uses about 22kg of these products every year. (http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/report/2006/5/tissueguide.pdf)
Pulp and paper mills are the 3rd largest generator of industrial air, water and land emissions in Canada. (Environment Canada) https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/management-toxic-substances/sources/forest-products-industry/pulp-paper-sector.html
Paper products, such as paper towels, are relatively inexpensive to purchase which has led to its overconsumption and an increasingly negative impact to our environment. Fortunately, there is a more eco-friendly and cost-friendly alternative. Reusable hand towels are more cost effective and have lower environmental impact. They are more efficient compared to paper towels and dryers as they take less time to dry hands, face and other parts of the body. They are also portable as they are small and compact, thus can be easily stored in a pocket or purse. They are machine washable so they can be thrown in with your regular weekly wash. Microfiber reusable towels are ideal for ultimate absorption.
One Thing You Can Do
App it! Don’t trash it!
Greenpeace Canada has created a free tool for making forest-friendly tissue product decisions. Green Tissue Guide mobile application, which features a catalogue of over 150 tissue products like paper towels, toilet paper, tissues and napkins found in Canadian stores across the country. The app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play in both English and French. When you need to purchase paper products, use this app to locate the most forest-friendly products. Otherwise, store a hand towel in your pocket or purse and use it to dry your hands instead of paper towels or dryers.
