Paper Towels Vs. Paperless Paper Towels

Take a brief moment to think about how many paper towels you have used today. Now, think about how many you may have consumed this week and during the past year. Statistics reveal that in the United States about 3,000 tons of used paper towels end up in landfills each year. Paper towel production involves excessive use of water and a large number of trees.

Paper towels are not only wasteful, they are also expensive. A case of 15 rolls per pack of Bounty 11x11 paper towels will cost you around $21, while a 30 roll pack will cost you $35. A cheaper and more resourceful alternative to paper towels is the reusable paperless towel.

Consumers can purchase a pack of 3 reusable Chartreuse paperless towels for just $4.50, which can be purchased online at www.chartreuse.com. According to Chartreuse, one paperless towel is equivalent to 17 rolls of paper towels. Paperless towels are dishwasher safe and machine washable. Or, you can simply hand wash them and then reuse them. Paperless towels are also high in absorbency and are made from sustainable trees.

Return On Investment

For the ROI and payback calculations, the assumption is that the typical American household uses about 2 rolls and spends about $2 per week on paper towels, which is equivalent to $100 each year. Let us assume that you completely replace paper towels with paperless towels and you purchase 2 packs of paperless towels at $13.65 ($4.65 for shipping). This will save you $86.35 per year and $863.50 over a 10 year period; your return on investment is 632.6% and your payback is just 0.16 years, which is less than 2 months.

If you are not ready to make the leap into 100% use of paperless paper towels, be sure to supplement your consumption with recycled paper towels. If every American household substituted one roll of regular, virgin fiber paper towels with 100% recycled paper towels, we can save about 1.4 million trees per year.