The Problem With Paper Towels

Paper towels billowing out of bathroom dispensers is, for some environmentalists, a painful symbol of waste, according to Green Inc., a green blog for the New York Times.

In the article, Rob Gogan, the recycling and waste manager at Harvard University, estimated that paper towels can account for 20 to 40 percent of an office or dorm’s waste by volume.

Paper towels made from recycled materials reduce our need for energy-intensive virgin fiber.

1. They don’t contain significant amounts of fiber for recycling, meaning incentive to recycle them is low (less fiber = less money).
2. They are often dirty or wet, which degrades them further and makes them non-recyclable.

Harvard is trying to encourage students to reduce their use of paper towels and install blow dryers to minimize their waste. Even though blow dryers use electricity, Gogan said the total energy use of a blow-dryer over its lifespan is less than that of paper towels, which use a great deal of energy in their production and transportation.

Harvard, along with other entities like San Francisco State University and several Canadian government buildings, are recycling through composting (or working on plans to compost) their paper towels.

On the short term, you can reduce your paper towel waste by using less and using towels made from recycled materials. Some companies, like Seventh Generation, have towels made from 100 percent post-consumer paper. You can also use unsoiled paper towels in mulch and compost. According to one estimate, if each U.S. household replaced one roll of traditional paper towels with paper towels made from recycled paper, we could avoid wasting 3.4 million cubic feet of landfill space and prevent 864,000 trees from being cut down.