It seems like a no-brainer. Substitute reusable cloth napkins for paper ones, and you’ll save a tree. Use cloth instead of paper towels and handkerchiefs instead of tissues, and you’ll save a lot of trees.
In reality, this may not be true. A few years ago, a columnist for Treehugger.com commissioned a Life Cycle Analysis of cloth versus paper napkins. It accounted for the amount of water and energy used to manufacture each product, and the impact of laundering cloth napkins.
Paper napkins are generally made of virgin wood, and usually bleached to make them whiter. But cloth napkins are often made of cotton, which requires copious water, energy, and pesticides to produce.
For restaurants that must launder the napkins after every use, the analysis showed that it is actually better for the environment to use paper napkins. For home use, if you choose to launder after 3-4 uses, cloth is better, according to the analysis.
If you use cloth napkins at home, choose products made of linen or organic cotton for a reduction of environmental impact. Washing them in cold water and line drying them will reduce their energy requirements.
If you choose to use paper products, the Natural Resources Defense Council offers a list of products that feature post-consumer recycled content and that are unbleached or bleached with non-chlorine processes.
The cloth-paper conundrum is a reminder that making sound environmental choices isn’t always as straightforward as it seems. It’s not just about the material a product is made of. It’s about the manufacturing process, the environmental impact of packaging and transportation, and what happens to the product after it arrives in your home.
Web Links
http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/are-paper-napkins-more-environmentally-friendly.html
http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp#whatyoucando
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Photo, taken on June 25, 2010, courtesy of Storebukkebruse via Flickr.