Paper or Plastic?

In this age of heightened environmental awareness, the choices we make daily can have a great impact. Sometimes, it is hard to know the right thing to do. I am in Raleigh, NC, which currently has severe drought conditions. There are water usage restrictions in place. While I normally try to curtail use of paper products in favor of reusable cloth items, I worry if that is the right thing to do at this time. Are paper napkins and paper towels going to the landfill better than running a load of wash for cloth napkins and old rags that are used for cleaning?

Ultimately, I think the answer lies in trying to make more conscious decisions about these issues. If you use paper products, try not to be wasteful or excessive. And organization comes into play here, too. While you may not want to wash tomato sauce stained cloth napkins and cleaning product saturated rags with your nice clothes, you can wash these items with your bed and bath linens rather than as a separate load.

Organizing your life is about streamlining items and activities to make your daily tasks smoother and easier. And while disposable products can make things easier on the surface, you need to balance that ease of use against your feelings and beliefs about how best to conserve resources. It may turn out that the time, gas, and storage space needed for month's supply of convenient, disposable paper towels is actually a greater drain than having a supply of reusable cloth rags.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about which is better - paper or plastic? The answer is neither. The best thing is to use reusable cloth bags for your shopping.