I have an Eco-dilemma for you :
what is the most environmentally friendly way to dry your hands everyday after washing?
1 - The old school hand towel (ok, but for the washing you pollute water with chemicals)
2 - Napkins (good, but you must cut a lot of wood, not that friendly…right)
3 - Hand dryer (well, let us not forget the things the power plants waste into our atmosphere)
So… what are your suggestions… Thank you.
If you insist on being a fanatic about it . . . shake off the excess water and wave your arms in the air.
First, you can save a lot of energy by NOT SHOUTING.
“3. Wipe hands on pants.”
“4. Receive Bacon.”
Save water too; don’t wash hands.
I agree that you should just shake them dry if it bothers you. But out of the 3 choices, a towel sounds better. You’re already washing a ton of clothes per week, what’s one little towel per week going to hurt?
Dry your hands on your shirt.
You don’t want to use a hand towel, because you need to wash it every few days to keep the germs you scrape off your hands from multiplying. You’re going to wash your shirt anyway.
An eco friendly person knows that you can wear pants 2-3 days between washings. (Change undies daily). But you only wear a shirt once between washings.
If you’re not wearing a shirt that can handle a little water…use a hand towel.
At concerts and other events, this can be a very difficult maneuver. On the one hand, you are expressing concern for the environment. On the other hand, you are being asked to wave them in an apathetic manner.
Per the OP, I would say towel is the most eco-friendly method, provided you don’t wash the towel unnecessarily. While there are easily thought-up hypotheticals that could make a difference, the marginal harm/environmental cost of one towel to a properly loaded washer is fairly minimal. Compared to the environmental costs of paper products or powering air-dry machines, a reusable towel will have the smallest footprint.
There is a column about that.
If you care about the earth, there is virtually nothing you can do that will make any significant difference at all. You might as well decide to hold your breath for a moment so that you temporarily reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. And while you’re at it, forget about the notion that if only *everyone *were to use your method of hand-drying, the climate would stop changing, the whales would live, and a Disney movie would break out. Your efforts, while making YOU feel somewhat better, don’t matter.
I wash 'em in toilet water, which is going to be flushed anyway, and dry 'em on the seat of my trousers.
Then I shuffle out of the men’s room at the Greyhound Bus Depot, look for long-ish cigarette butts on the ground and in ashtrays, and try to hit up passers-by for loose change (to feed the Vodka Monkey on my back).
But… you’re ignoring the OP’s question. He didn’t ask “How can I save the world?” he asked “What’s the most environmentally friendly way to dry my hands?” Since he’s already going to dry his hands, it seems reasonable to find the best way.
As for the OP, my vote goes for air drying or using your pants or shirt. Second place is a hand towel. I wash my hand towels every two or three weeks, and no house guests have died from rampant bacterial growth.
(In fact, on the issue of washing frequency, Pan1, I think you’re insane unless you work as a laborer. I have a nice, standard office job and wash shirts after two or three wearings. Pants can be worn at least twice that before washing.)
That’s extraordinarily nonsensical. Whether certain actions’ impact is marginally beneficial or harmful is one thing. But there are a lot of actions that, while personally minimal, aggregate to substantial environmental effects. Pretending otherwise perpetuates a rather harmful lie.
No single raindrop IS responsible for the flood.
Not being wholly responsible =! devoid of any responsibility.
Irregardless.
No Impact Man reviews always mention how they don’t use toilet paper. Do I want to know what they do instead? Non-disposable cloths would need to be laundered…
And keep in mind the Law Of The Conservation Of Filth: To make anything clean, you have to make something else dirtier.