Product Review - Eco Towl "It wipes like a towel, dries like a chamois and absorbs like a sponge"
I'd been searching for an eco-friendly solution to the paper towel dilemma. Much as I appreciate the idea of the un-bleached brown paper towels available at the co-op from Seventh Generation, they were just way too damn expensive. But it really made me think about the cost of the paper and the waste of it all and where it goes. The chlorine used to bleach paper towels contaminates ground water. Maybe not from one or two, but when you get a bunch of people sending their trash to a land fill, you can see how something like that would add up...not to mention being added to the waste from other sources - like disposable diapers. Not to mention, that ground water contamination DOES make it back into our drinking water and guess what? Women store it in their fatty tissues. Like our breasts! Chlorine is thought to be one of the contributors to increased breast cancer risk.
So I've been trying alternatives. I went back tot he trusty sponge I grew up with, only made of natural ocean sponge. It just didn't hold up to the use and they were quite expensive as well. This time, I picked up something called the Eco-Towl. I couldn't find the exact brand - which WAS called Eco-Towel..I didn't keep the packaging. So I went looking for it on the web and found a similar product, but I don't think it's the same one. Mine are solid colors blue and green, two to a package. They are everything else described though. Tough, strong, durable, and machine washable ans re-usable. I will be getting some more and won't be using paper towels anymore - ever if I can help it.
Here's one website with a similar product: http://www.bambooya.com/bamboo-eco-towel.html
So I called down to http://www.threeriversmarket.coop/ and got the product information. It's made of viscous, which is apparently made from recycled wood chips. It's made by this company
http://www.pacificdrygoods.com/index.html.
Anyway, I wanted to pass on the word about these towels. I mean, a set for the kitchen, and one for each bathroom and I think I'm set. Probably need one for the pet messes too. My sister hates the sponges we grew up with because she says 'they're nasty' and I couldn't argue. But if you can machine wash these in hot water with the rest of your towels, what's not to like? Oh yeah, I do use hot water for towels, always. I don't care what you put in there to clean with, if you don't have hot water, the body oils will NOT get dissolved and if they don't get dissolved, how can you call them cleaned? Besides, those oils hold bacteria as well. So use hot water for your towels people..you can go green by wrapping your hot water heater up in a blanket or buying a heat pump, don't skimp on health and hygiene to be 'eco-friendly' And you can reduce your paper usage and landfill footprint by using these types of cleaning towels.
I haven't tried the others, but there are several other options on the market. I paid 5.49 for mine, and since the package was 1/4 the price of the paper towels, the Eco-Towl paid for itself before I ever even got it home!
I learned something else. I had loved the microfiber towels I found with the scrubber backs. They're machine washable too, but they're made from petro-chemcials. Not natural materials. I will keep these for my dishes, but I won't be buying any more of them as the same company also makes viscous pads for dishes and glassware.
I will use them until they are 'on their last legs' and then move them to outdoor duties like wiping out pots in the garden area. I plan to also get a set for the bathrooms as well. I think I will have to use a certain color for the kitchen, another for the bathrooms and another for the floor spills and pet messes. They come in Blue, teal and I think I saw yellow and perhaps pink, so I think there will be plenty of colors for the different jobs and applications around my house. Check out the different products at their website - everything from camping and cooking to cleaning and wiping - you name it, they have one of these for it!
And best of all - when they're done - or when you're done with them - they are ENTIRELY bio-degradable and compostible! I may even try to use them as seed starting mats!
Try 'em!
So I've been trying alternatives. I went back tot he trusty sponge I grew up with, only made of natural ocean sponge. It just didn't hold up to the use and they were quite expensive as well. This time, I picked up something called the Eco-Towl. I couldn't find the exact brand - which WAS called Eco-Towel..I didn't keep the packaging. So I went looking for it on the web and found a similar product, but I don't think it's the same one. Mine are solid colors blue and green, two to a package. They are everything else described though. Tough, strong, durable, and machine washable ans re-usable. I will be getting some more and won't be using paper towels anymore - ever if I can help it.
Here's one website with a similar product: http://www.bambooya.com/bamboo-eco-towel.html
So I called down to http://www.threeriversmarket.coop/ and got the product information. It's made of viscous, which is apparently made from recycled wood chips. It's made by this company
http://www.pacificdrygoods.com/index.html.
Anyway, I wanted to pass on the word about these towels. I mean, a set for the kitchen, and one for each bathroom and I think I'm set. Probably need one for the pet messes too. My sister hates the sponges we grew up with because she says 'they're nasty' and I couldn't argue. But if you can machine wash these in hot water with the rest of your towels, what's not to like? Oh yeah, I do use hot water for towels, always. I don't care what you put in there to clean with, if you don't have hot water, the body oils will NOT get dissolved and if they don't get dissolved, how can you call them cleaned? Besides, those oils hold bacteria as well. So use hot water for your towels people..you can go green by wrapping your hot water heater up in a blanket or buying a heat pump, don't skimp on health and hygiene to be 'eco-friendly' And you can reduce your paper usage and landfill footprint by using these types of cleaning towels.
I haven't tried the others, but there are several other options on the market. I paid 5.49 for mine, and since the package was 1/4 the price of the paper towels, the Eco-Towl paid for itself before I ever even got it home!
I learned something else. I had loved the microfiber towels I found with the scrubber backs. They're machine washable too, but they're made from petro-chemcials. Not natural materials. I will keep these for my dishes, but I won't be buying any more of them as the same company also makes viscous pads for dishes and glassware.
I will use them until they are 'on their last legs' and then move them to outdoor duties like wiping out pots in the garden area. I plan to also get a set for the bathrooms as well. I think I will have to use a certain color for the kitchen, another for the bathrooms and another for the floor spills and pet messes. They come in Blue, teal and I think I saw yellow and perhaps pink, so I think there will be plenty of colors for the different jobs and applications around my house. Check out the different products at their website - everything from camping and cooking to cleaning and wiping - you name it, they have one of these for it!
And best of all - when they're done - or when you're done with them - they are ENTIRELY bio-degradable and compostible! I may even try to use them as seed starting mats!
Try 'em!