Oh no, here come the weirdos with the cloths

Here is a scene that repeated itself a hundred times in the beginning of the No Impact project: we sat down in a restaurant, the server came over all smiles, we said hi, picked the paper napkins from the table, handed them to the confused-looking server, said we brought our own, and pulled our cloths from our pockets with a flourish. “We’re on a don’t make garbage kick,” we always said. Most times, the server thought it was cool. But, um, other times…

By keeping the cloth stuffed in our pockets, we never have to dry our hands with a paper towel in a public restroom. Plus, in those days before the eating local stage kicked in, we could buy a bagel and tell them to wrap it in our cloths instead of paper. Even now, when we buy local cheese at the Union Square farmers’ market, we give them a reusable cheese cloth to package the cheese in.

OK, we’re weird. Even to ourselves! On the other hand, see that picture at the top of the page? That is a picture, courtesy of Greenpeace, of an ancient forest in Canada that was clearcut in order to manufacture disposable paper products.

Some of the felled trees had lived 70 to 180 years before someone decided they wanted to blow their nose on them. Ancient forests are like the planet’s lungs, except they do the opposite of our lungs. The forests breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. That makes them essential to fighting climate change. Plus, old forests, some of which have been around 10,000 years since the last ice age, provide habitat for all sorts of wildlife like, in Canada, caribou, wolves, eagles and bears.

Of course, there are paper products that are more sustainably produced, and I give a list below. The general idea is that paper products should contain either recycled fiber or fiber from sustainably harvested forests (certified by the Forest Stewardship Council) and should be manufactured cleanly without chlorine

But even sustainably-produced disposable paper products pile the landfills and sewer systems with things that were only used for 30 seconds. That’s why Michelle and I prefer to remain the weird couple with the cloths.

Here’s a list of ancient forest-friendly paper products, courtesy of Greenpeace:

Toilet Paper: CVS Bathroom Tissue 1000, Cascades, Marcal, Natural Value, Earth First, Seventh Generation, Trader Joe's, 365 Everyday Value

Facial Tissue: Marcal Fluff Out, Seventh Generation, Trader Joe's

Paper Towels: Marcal Bella, Natural Value, Seventh Generation, Trader Joe's, 365 Everyday Value

==========

PS I found out that my appearance on the Colbert Report airs at 11:30 PM on April 9 and a bunch of times including 8:30 PM on April 10. I'll be on Talk of the Nation on April 9. I wish someone would clearcut the butterflies in my stomach!

 

Comments

[Caroline in NH]

We've been buying Marcal recycled for quite some time. I've been thinking of bringing my own cloths for a while, for many of the reasons you mentioned above; I think I'll go stuff one in my bag now. Thanks for the inspiration! I'll look for the TV appearances.

[Talia]

Question-Are you using the same cloth napkin for bathroom and at meal time? How are you going to see your own TV appearance because you don't own a TV or are you going to a friends house to see it? I admire your efforts, however--9 times out of 10 I bet they just take those paper napkins that you give back to the well-meaning waitress and she then throws them right in the trash bin. I've seen store clerks do the same thing w/paper bags I've returned along w/my item I'm returning. They just toss it, even if its perfectly re-usuable.

[Aisha]

We found you via an article in the Globe & Mail (in Canada). Its really inspiring to read about people making such drastic changes. I applaud your efforts! Its folks like you that will make others think just a little more before taking that extra disposable whatever! I plan to check out your blog with our five year old so she can learn about making conscious choices. Just a question, what do you use for toothbrushes?
Good luck.

[Leslie]

The weirdness factor...

Twenty years ago I knew a young woman my age who would take plastic produce bags back to the grocery store to reuse them. She would hide them under her shirt because back then it was a really weird thing to do. Finally, not sure why it took so long, I take every last bag I have back and reuse it many times. Weird? Don't care.

[Sara]

Sigh... I can't even get my own husband to use cloth napkins at home (my daughter and I use them, but my hubby thinks it's "disgusting"). It's amazing how deeply acculturated our belief in the disposable system can be....

[Phelan]

Congrats on the tv appearance.

We too use cloth napkins. We rarely eat out, and have never had a odd reaction for using them.

[Samuel (from Brazil)]

But how about the impact on washing the cloths? Is it a lower impact than the one caused by the paper one? I´d like to see a comparison on that, cause it has really confused me.

[jennifer goodnow]

i'm letting my current supply of disposable kitchen wrapping products such as aluminum foil, saran wrap, plastic sandwich bags, etc. run out. but, i'm not sure what to wrap leftovers with once i'm done. there's tupperware - but is wax paper biodegradable? compostable? better than foil or saran? i'm trying to find the answers on tree hugger or another resource.

[Katy]

Leslie - I do the same thing and get strange looks from other shoppers, even at Whole Foods! I've started to bring my own tupperware for bulk items which really seems to confuse the cashiers.

We're not weird, just at the vanguard of what is sure to be the next big trend :)

Good luck tonight NIM!

[Alina]

This is a strange concept to me... and I don't mean bringing your own cloths. I though any self-respecting restaurant provided fancy cloth napkins anyway. Maybe you should just go to more traditionalist restaurantes where you are supposed to neatly place the cloth napkin on your lap...

[Bob Waldrop]

Regarding leftovers in the refrigerator, instead of using tupperware-type stuff, I use bowls or pansand put a plate or lid over the top. I've found that some of my stove lids are perfect fits for some of my bowls. I look for stray lids and glass/clay bowls at thrift stores, garage sales, and flea markets.

[Niki]

We took our own cloth bags to the grocery store yesterday and, to our delight, we weren't the only ones!

NIM, while I applaud your effort to reduce the amount of paper products you use, as a British Columbian I'd like to stick up for the forestry industry in my province.

Contrary to what you may hear from some of the louder environmentalist voices, the BC Government is committed to sustainable forestry management. Many of the forests that are harvested are regrowth, and have been cut several times over decades in order to spare older growth in other areas. There is also a big push here to reforest what's been cut. My sister spent last summer on a tree planting crew, reforesting clear cut areas by hand with thousands of other tree planters.

Anyway, I understand that your point is not to harp on the evils of tree cutting...it's about not creating the waste that comes with using paper. But I thought it would be good to point out that there are sustainable ways of running certain industries which are traditionally thought of as bad for the environment.

[dura mater]

I applaud your use of reusables. We, too, use cloth napkins, used cloth diapers back when our kids needed 'em, reuse bags at stores, and even recycle fabric (with guts & a sewing machine, a girl can have a very funky wardrobe!!). However, it's important to remember that everything comes from somewhere, and that since we have to eat, stay warm, wear clothes, and even have fun, we do have to use stuff. We prefer to use stuff that comes from renewable sources, like forests, rather than one-shot sources, like composted dinosaurs. Forests, which are increasingly being managed in sustainable ways, are incredibly resilient. Yes, that picture on your blog today is ugly. But cutting down 100-year-old trees, while unfortunate, is not that big a deal. That thick forest is only 100 years old!!! That means it has been cut before, and look how it recovered! One hundred years is short, ecologically.

Sorry for ranting. My point is mainly that trees grow back, and petroleum doesn't, at least not in 100 years, so go easy on the forest-users. Wood and paper are preferable to plastic.

[Jen from Brooklyn]

No Impact Man, you're going to be great on Colbert and on TOTN! I'll be out there cheering for you!

[Kerri]

This is my biggest challenge in my efforts to make less of an impact! I have mild social anxiety as it is, so taking my reusable bags, etc, into certain envirments is an incredibly daunting taks for me. I'm fine in places that already have a culture of this, such as my local co-op, Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, but I haven't yet bucked up the courage to shove one of my tote bags over to the bagger at Safeway!

I admire your gumption!

[Susanna]

Don't worry about using cloth bags at Safeway, please! At least in my area (Denver, Colo.) almost all the stores are very nice about it. I have had a bagger or two make a comment, but generally they don't care. I put the bags on the top of my cart so the checker can send them down the conveyor belt first -- that way you don't have to be confrontational (and often, I wind up bagging my own groceries anyway), and the clerk immediately knows I have cloth bags. I can walk to the store, and the cloth bags have the added advantage of being easier to carry.

Inspired by this site, I asked for no bag at Target a couple weeks ago. The cashier was really flummoxed. But thanks to the "big purse" trend, I could shove two pairs of pants and a couple CDs into my purse while the befuddled cashier just handed me my receipt.

[Leslie]

Dura mater - Isn't that what happens. You start recycling and then you just can't stop! I got a sewing machine after seeing in Adbusters a photo of a pile of old discarded clothes sitting in a developing country's rain-forest. How long does polyester take to break down?

[Village Green]

Looking forward to seeing No Impact Man go up against Colbert! I gave you a plug on my blog today and will continue to look here daily for more great tips.

To the folks above who express some timitidy at using cloth bags -- I urge you to give it a try. Soon, you will be using them everywhere you shop without a problem. Clothes shopping, shoe shopping, book shopping -- my cloth bags are at the ready.

It took me awhile to get used to it, but now I keep my cloth bags in the truck ready to use at all times. Another great thing about going cloth is that you become keenly aware of how much you are purchasing and carrying home. I have reduced my shopping to fit into my bags.

[Kerri]

Listening to Colin on NPR's Talk of the Nation right now!

[Michelle]

I, too, am listening to TOTN now, which is how I found your blog. Great work! Thanks for taking on this experiment, for the blog, and your public appearances. I look forward to your book. I work as an environmentalist, but I have not given myself to the extremes as my values would lead me. I truly admire your commitment and thank you for the lessons we can all learn. I plan to keep reading!

[Dea]

I agree with Niki. In the picture those trees look quite small, not as old as 180 years. I am also from BC and grew up in the middle of a forestry area, and that area would be in a giant recession if it wasn't for forestry, which emcompasses removing the trees for lumber/ paper products AND replanting. I know of many university students who funded their education by replanting trees. When you drive up 97C (south of Kelowna, towards Vancouver) you can see the forests which have been replanted, and the year is displayed also. It always made me proud to see that.

[Amanda]

I'll be tuning in tonight to see you on The Colbert Report!

[rebecca in JC]

I'm going to try some of these things. I have wanted to do this for a while. I have been only buying marcal recycled TP for many years, and gave up entirely on paper towels and napkins as a waste of paper and money. I use cloth towels for dishwashing as also as napkins. But reading this now I am going to stop with the plastic bags at the grocery store and look into local produce. And keep my lights off as much as possible!

[rebecca in JC]

Part of my inspiration for this is that I lived a mile from a trash incinerator for two years and during that time developed acute asthma, which got really bad until I finally moved. So for those whose livelihoods depend on disposable products, I suggest we all move toward new industries that do not create as much waste. Paper and plastic burning in incinerators is making a lot of people very, very ill. Lucky for me, I had the resources to move. No so for my old neighbors whose kids and grandkids are addicted to corticosteroids.

[Sara]

Wow! I just heard you, here in Wyoming, on TOTN and thought your board might be crashed from all of the response...not so. I was crazy impressed with what your family is doing and how well you represent it. I am no where near the galaxy of your commitment (in the interest of full disclosure I have become addicted this last year to the Eichman of paper products- Viva paper towels- having been an umpteenth generation cloth towel/rag user my Whole Life,) Regardless "our types," and I clearly say this loosely, seem to be represented in the national media as whiny, effete and curdled with self-righteousness. You were very refreshing. Preach on, (in your atypically non-preachy way) brother!
Sara in Cheyenne
p.s. Did you read that article last year,maybe in Harper's?, about the "second sleep," phenomena that occurred when we were pre-electricity? Folks would go to bed early and then wake up in the middle of the night, write letters, begin a first rise of bread etc and then go back to sleep and wake up early. They recreated the circumstances in a study and apparently it not only happened but participants noted their feelings of heightened creativity and clarity. So cool- it's going to happen to you!