Sunday, February 20, 2022

The conclusion of a small experiment

"Here's a small milestone," I told Don a few days ago. I held up an empty cardboard tube. "I finished a roll of paper towels."

The reason this is a milestone is because we seldom use paper towels. (In fact, having an empty cardboard tube is so novel, Don wants to keep it in case it has a use.) We segued away from using as many disposable products as we could many years ago – including the ubiquitous paper towels – and never looked back.

I put the empty cardboard tube on the kitchen counter while going about my tasks. It wasn't until a few minutes later I noticed something: I had written the date in the tube of when I first opened the roll. Evidently I did so as the start of a small experiment to see how long the roll would last.

Hmmm. November 10, 2020 – that put us smack in the middle of living in our temporary rental house while searching for our forever home. In other words, this roll of paper towels saw us through two moves as well as fourteen months of projects in our new home. Not bad.

Now that it's time to open the next roll of paper towels, I might as well write the opening date inside the tube. What the heck, it will make for another interesting, small experiment.

10 comments:

  1. Wow! I feel unworthy to visit your blog. lol

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  2. I use paper towels, mostly to wrap lettuce, greens, or other veges before putting them in ziplock bags or plastic containers. When the veges no longer need the PT, I either wash and dry them for reuse with other veges, or I save them to wipe the grease out of skillets/pans (to save the septic) or use them in the bottom of my kitchen compost bin. Those PT which are stained or damaged are used for cat yak pickup or mud tracked in from the farm. Since I reuse a PT 2 or 3 times, it's almost free.

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    1. I use those thin cotton kitchen towel (used in restaurants) for wrapping veggies and then placed in a plastic bag, towel moist and saved veggies.
      On the other hand since I moved to the country I have been using a ton of paper towels along with the family. Working on it. Guess too many indoor pets.

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    2. How do you "wash" paper towels? Or do you mean something else?

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    3. Carefully and gently. It also helps to start with a sturdy brand.

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  3. My husband used paper towels all the time. One roll would last about 2 weeks. Since he passed away, I find that a roll lasts more than 2 months. Like one of the other comments I get two or more uses out of almost one

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  4. I've been following your blog for a long time! I think your girls were ...maybe 12 and 14 ish. At some point I was IMPRESSED that you used next to NO paper products. I always thought I might accept that challenge one day....started feeling guilty every time I ripped off another paper towel to wipe my face or brush off the counter top. FINALLY went for the challenge of not using paper products. Admit I started off with guilt, and using less and less. So finally...one thing at a time...ordered the sanitary pads you recommended more than a few times, bought some pretty cloth napkins and T Towels, and cut them into smaller squares, for wiping things off, (I wash them most of the time in my dish pan with the dishes) and I even challenged myself to the 'ain't got no toilet paper challenge' with GREAT SUCCESS on all counts!!! Now I'll never waste another dime on most household paper products! THANK YOU !!..ummmm... I'd use the cardboard roll for kindling or compost, but that's just mee! ...and full disclosure...I use tons of writing paper, to, well, write on!

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  5. I use practically zero paper towels and no paper napkins. At one time, I used no toilet paper for several years.

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  6. Another very old kitty recently died. Almost 22 years old. The drawback of very old pets is that they get dementia and incontinence like old people. She got so she woke up wet, or would simply get up and pee close to where she was sleeping. So I encouraged her to sleep mostly in a large carrier by my bed, and kept it lined with cloth diapers, and / or paper towels, or store bought pee pads. She " got it " and abided by this arrangement after spending a whole day confined at a time after choosing her own places to go. We went through tons of paper towels.

    Now I'm making more diapers out of a worn out mattress pad, and handkerchiefs out of an old, white, cotton duvet. I'd rather go ahead and get these things made and ready to use than need them and have to make them then.

    However, the biggest savings I'm finding useful lately is soaps. My jar of fels naptha jelled and I was at the end of a bottle of dish soap so I put some jell and water in with the little soap left and it has lasted weeks. Dish soap sudses too much anyway. Next I diluted some jell a little bit and mixed it 50/50 with liquid dishwasher soap. To the same consistency. Again, success. Was using feels naptha previously, along with paper towels, to wash windows and to squirt bugs outside.

    The paper towel rolls are a favorite worm food and I was chopping them up, but last fall said the heck with chopping and dumped them in the bottom of a new worm bin. My worms have been multiplying like crazy and a neighbor asked if I'd consider selling some to fish with last year. It's a thought. Didn't do that then, but they would probably be good to barter for fish. Worms can live up to 8 years and grow almost a foot long. I have several dozen that are very big and multiplying. Caught them coming up in compost and started relocating them to big bins. Fortunately they seem ok with this. They will miss their cardboard soon enough.

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  7. Since you posted this I've made great strides forward in paring down. It's almost like you set up a healthy competition/challenge for your readers to do so. Kinda like a Mama teaches and leads her children . Thank you for your example.

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