Save Money and a Few Trees . . .
Want to save money and help the environment? What about improving the quality of your life? Use cloth napkins and dishcloths-- they are relatively inexpensive, but they are only a one-time investment.
Years ago I decided to cut my paper towel usage-- they were and still are expensive. This isn't to say I never use them, I just don't go through the way I used to-- I estimate I have cut my usage by half by using dishcloths.
Cloth napkins are a nice touch and also save paper napkin usage.
Paper plates tend to be for lunches-- breakfast and dinner are usually porcelain-- another savings and again, a nice touch.
As for cups, we use reusable cups or glass-- no disposables.
Live better for less-- sounds good to me!
Posted by DDFD at 9/15/2008 5:23 PM 
Categories: Money Savers, Frugality, Green Living, Simple Living
Tags: Money Savers Simple Living Frugal Green Living Frugality
Categories: Money Savers, Frugality, Green Living, Simple Living
Tags: Money Savers Simple Living Frugal Green Living Frugality
Great idea.
I've been using cloth towels for many years. They get stained, but who cares? They are reusable and cost way less than the amount of paper towels you would have used.
Besides, they are so much more effective. How much scrubbing can you really do with a paper towel?
Someone, way back when decided to con us into using paper towels. Many of us bought into it. I never did.
Paper towels are for picking up things that need to be thrown away. Things that you don't want on your cloth towels because you can't wash it out. Bacon fat and oil spills are the only things that come to mind.
For everything else, a cloth towel is far superior.
Clair
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Clair--
We have been conned into many things. I have an upcoming post planned about many of our modern day "necessities" that we have been marketed into. I use a mobile phone, but there was a time that people could wait to get a message on the answering machine. Prior to the answering machine, the caller would just call back . . .
DDFD
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That will be a good post. It's right on the nose. Unless I'm expecting the President to call, I'm not convinced that I need that blue tooth thingy hanging on my ear.
Various marketing schemes has us working for the companies, instead of their products working for us.
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Look for my modern "necessities" post over the weekend.
As for the Blue Tooth devices (which I have one for when I am driving), I always think of the Borg characters (man/machine merged) from Star Trek: Next Generation-- always makes me smile.
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DDFD:
It used to be we needed a beeper, now it's a blue tooth thingy hanging on our ear and a blackberry on our belt. Isn't it largely instant gratification with an electronic device, and more monthly income for others?
Looking forward to your observations.
Clair
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Clair,
I saw a report yesterday or the day before where they referred to Blackberrys as "Crackberrys" because that are so additive.
I use a mobile phone and a Blue Tooth (illegal to use hand held phones in my state, but a law that is unfortunately largely ignored)-- I do this because I spend most of my time commuting to and from clients.
I do feel a little behind the times however, despite having the capability, I don't text (which is really out of hand with drivers as well). As for the instant gratification, I agree and have a story about that. I used to work in a company that had a bunch of kids working for it. I say kids, but they were really 21-23 year olds. The "kids" were Blackberry happy-- they would send you a text to your email with a question and before you could answer the question with another email, they would send you another text message question. After about 4 or 5 rounds of this the older guys (late 30s/early 40s) and I would pick up the phone and have a real conversation to answer questions and address concerns.
Blackberry usage has some downsides that go largely unseen: lower productivity (see above), loss of personal relationship, and the danger of DWT (Driving While Texting). Finally, much the way I felt about beepers, I feel Blackberrys put you on an electronic tether-- you are on-call 24/7-- not appealing to me.
DDFD
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