We are a fairly eco-minded crew over here at Chez Sutherland.
Recycling is a family affair and requires a trip to the county facility (no curbside in our little corner of suburbia — yet). We buy local food when we can and we support independently-owned businesses as much as possible.
We compost. We garden and can the veggies we grow. We donate our gently used items to Goodwill (and shop there too).
Our dirty little secret? Our massive consumption of paper towels and paper napkins. I try not to think of how often I restocked our supply at Costco, or how much I used paper towels and napkins as “plates” for sandwiches and snacks so I wouldn’t dirty a real plate. We needed to fix this issue fast.
I was prompted to action by my sweet friend Jessie. On a visit to her house–a regular hive of activity buzzing with three little ones under the age of five–I noticed a basket full of cloth napkins. She told me how easy it was to make the switch. So we did.
I quickly became a cloth-napkin-hoarding fool. I couldn’t get enough, but of course I didn’t want to spend a lot. $8 per napkin? For my children to rub their mac-and-cheesy faces on? I don’t think so.
On a recent trip to the Cornelius store, I stumbled upon the home textiles, and as Oprah says, I had a light bulb moment. Why hadn’t I realized before that Goodwill carries cloth napkins? And they are only $1.29 for a set of four ($1.79 for a set of six).
It’s a triple-whammy of eco-goodness: Buying recycled goods, not using paper products and a bargain to boot!
-Rachel Sutherland
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