Four Reasons UNpaper® Towels are Better for the Environment

The ubiquitous paper towel is a big problem for the environment. Why? First, Americans consume paper towels in vast quantities. According to the Paperless Project, in the U.S., we currently use more than 13 billion pounds of paper towels each year, and that number is steadily increasing. This means that every single day more than 3,000 tons of paper towels are wasted in the U.S. alone. Let’s put that into perspective. 3,000 tons of paper towel waste is about seventeen-and-a-half times as heavy as a house, about thirty times heavier than a Blue Whale, and about 300 times heavier than a Tyrannosaurus rex! Marley’s Monsters UNpaper® Towels combat the host of environmental challenges surrounding paper towels. What are some of these challenges? Loss of Trees: Each paper towel represents a huge waste of trees. It requires an astounding 17 trees to produce one ton (roughly 2,000 rolls) of paper towels. If every household in the U.S. used just one less 70-sheet roll of paper towels, that would save 544,000 trees each year. That number is equivalent to about 5% of the tree population in the state of Oregon! Trees are important for our environment, preventing soil erosion and sustaining many living species. Think of the trees that could be saved if everyone switched to reusable Unpaper® Towels. Water Waste: Twenty thousand gallons of water are required to make one ton or 2,000 rolls of paper towels. The majority of water waste from manufacturing is dumped back into our waterways, representing a threat to our health and environment. Can’t be Recycled: Paper Towels can’t be recycled, so they become part of landfills. Americans produce about 7.4 billion pounds of paper towel waste annually. This represents the third largest category of waste in landfills, after food waste and plastic waste. Not only do paper towels use valuable landfill space, but they also release methane gas, one of the leading factors in climate change. Trees can combat climate change if they aren’t cut down. Carbon Footprint: Overall, paper towel use has a huge carbon footprint. The overall life cycle of paper towels, from cutting down trees to sending dirty towels to landfills, releases millions of tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. Overall the paper pulp industry, which includes paper towel production, counts for 0.5% of the United States' carbon dioxide emissions. Marley’s Monsters is the home of the UNpaper® Towel, our version of a Reusable Paper Towel, designed to reduce waste, cut costs, and also fit your unique personality and style. Our UNpaper® Towels are the perfect thickness to replace traditional paper towels. They are made from 100% Cotton Flannel, and become more absorbent, gain texture, and cling to themselves more easily with every wash. Our UNpaper® Towels are designed to last for years with proper care and get better with age. Since they are not single-use, UNpaper® Towels have a lower carbon footprint than disposable towels. The water wasted in the making of paper towels is vastly greater than the water used to clean UNpaper® Towels. Over the lifespan of your UNpaper® Towels, you save thousands of trees and millions of gallons of water. When they come to the end of their useful life, UNpaper® Towels won’t clog up landfills. After years of use, the thread can be removed, and the fabric can be composted. If we all take the challenge to eliminate single-use paper with an alternative, reusable, natural fiber cloth product, like UNpaper® Towels, the planet will be in a better shape than where we started. #ThinkReusable, we still have time to change our future. Read more about our UNpaper® Towels. (2018, November 17). When it comes to paper towels, America is No. 1. Retrieved October 4, 2022 from https://apnews.com/article/0ee2623eb5a84e01a52dfd374f116e6b Discount Shop Towels. (2021, May 25). Are Paper Towels Bad for the Environment? Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://discountshoptowels.com/blogs/news/are-paper-towels-bad-for-the-environment How To Reduce Your Paper Towel Use. The Paperless Project RSS. (n.d.). Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20171129013914/http://www.thepaperlessproject.com/how-to-reduce-your-paper-towel-use/ NRDC. (2022, April 18). Water Pollution: Everything You Need to Know. Retrieved October 4, 2022 from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/water-pollution-everything-you-need-know Statista Research Department, & 23, J. (2022, June 23). U.S.: Quantity of paper towels used 2020. Statista. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/275731/us-households-amount-of-paper-towels-used-within-30-days/ Schwartz, C. (2017, January 25). The Dirty Details [and facts] on Paper Towels and Sponges. CottageCare. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://cottagecare.com/blog/dirty-details-facts-paper-towels-sponges Urban, S. (2018, October 22, 2018). Paper Towels or Excess Water Consumption: Which Is Worse? Retrieved October 4, 2022 from https://www.organicauthority.com/live-grow/paper-towels-water-consumption-which-is-wo Terra Pass (2019, December 30). How to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Your Paper Towels? Retrieved October 4, 2022 from https://terrapass.com/blog/how-reduce-carbon-footprint-paper-towels

Four Reasons UNpaper® Towels are Better for the Environment

Marley’s Monsters UNpaper® Towels combat the host of environmental challenges surrounding paper towels. What are some of these challenges?

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