Am I A Complete Jerk for Using Bounty?
After giving birth to my kid, I realized that the onslaught of unwarranted advice, not to mention the info available via the Internet, was only going to serve to drive me crazy. Reading about conserving natural resources or preventing Global Warming can feel the same way. Although it all sounds great, in theory, it’s just not practical to do all of it.
You have to do what works for you.
At this point, I figure any effort is better than none. So, and I’m embarrassed to say this was in part Oprah episode inspired, I headed out one weekend to procure my microfiber cloths and enviro-friendly cleaning products. I also stocked up on TP and paper towels (green brands only.)
While I latched on quickly to some products (Seventh Generation makes the best baby laundry detergent ever and the Method cucumber dish soap makes you want to do dishes so badly it must have crack in it), others fell short, way short, of our household needs.
The toilet paper was flimsy…and it kinda hurt. And the paper towels just plain sucked.
I really wanted to love them. I wanted to be a full-on, preferably 100-percent post-consumer recycled, convert. But it was hard to overlook that “clean ups” that could be cleared with one measly half-sheet of Bounty took multiple, and I mean multiple, sheets of the recycled product. How could it be better to use half a roll of paper, even if it is recycled?
Harkening back to a time when my roommate was an Environmental Studies major, I began to imitate her practice of making half sheets of my beloved Bounty into quarters and tearing off only a corner for really little spills. It was a bit pathetic.
Then I learned something essential. Something that seemed to give me license, almost, to use the paper towel of my choice. My local waste management company, and their handy three-bin refuse method, composts paper towels. (They also accept pizza boxes. God Bless ‘em.)
In my world of many, many “clean ups,” this was a true epiphany. But when I shared my discovery with an associate (Tim), adding that I felt a whole lot less guilty about how many paper towels we used as a household, I was told (albeit humorously) that I’d become (a jerk) about it.
And maybe I have. Maybe I suck suckity suck for sticking with Bounty or Brawny or Scott (although I’m not really a fan of Scott, either). But taking advantage of the local composting program has had a dramatic effect on the trash bins in our kitchen. What used to fill up first (the garbage bound for landfill/incineration) is now the least frequent export to the garage trashcans. Compost and recycling fill regularly, and I almost feel good about it.
So, I’m a jerk, maybe, but to further justify my ECF paper towel addiction, I’ve made a concerted effort to find a recycled toilet paper that, well, doesn’t chafe or turn into little rolled up balls mid-wipe. And I did. But that’s another story.
