Alright, I’ll be honest. I kind of feel like I’m copping out on this one because it’s not as “big” as my last couple of small changes. But that’s why it’s one small change. Right? That’s what I’m telling myself.
I’ll do a more in-depth update and discussion of last month’s small change – decreased car usage – next week. For now, I’ll just say that this is and will continue to be an ongoing project of mine. Still eating real food as much as possible, but hand-washing dishes is over. New house = new, very efficient dishwasher. There’s no way I can beat this one with hand-washing (it uses reclaimed heat from the water to dry dishes, blah blah technical blah).
For this month, I’m taking on a relatively easy switch: cloth napkins. I’ve used recycled paper napkins for the longest time, and reuse them to within an inch of their lives, but there is absolutely no reason for me to continue using paper napkins.
In a nice moment of synchronicity, I ran out of napkins within a day or so of receiving a set of cloth napkins as a housewarming gift. I’ll most likely supplement my supply of cloth napkins as cute ones show up at the thrift store (an easy way of rendering moot the life cycle cost of cloth v. paper debate). But for now, four is more than enough to serve my household of one.
This change is a no-brainer for April, which is going to be a bit busier than last month (in spite of the fact that last month we bought a house and moved – tell me how that works?). Which brings me to my next item…
Looking for Guest Posters
My dear hubs is home for his two weeks of deployment leave this month, and I have resolved to break my internet addiction while he is home. I would love to find some guest posts for this here bloggy blog while I’m mooching around at the end of April.
If you are interested in submitting a guest post, please let me know. The post should be in some way related to the broad spectrum of things I write about on this blog and not too, too long. Is that vague enough for you? And if you have a blog, I would love to write a guest post for you in exchange.
Happy Friday everyone – hope you all have a great weekend!
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Ok, so I am not the only one who had a hard time with the switch! After several weeks of back and fourth, I finally made myself a promise to spend my extra money I would be saving from disposable napkins on something for myself.
Yeah, it took me forever to switch in part because I buy in bulk, so I was NEVER out of paper napkins, and in part because I am so stylistically inept. I dreaded having to choose a color or design for my cloth napkins, which was enough to make me procrastinate switching over. Thank goodness for gifts!
We made the switch maybe two years ago. I use them for everything but popcorn and other really greasy foods- but I am beginning to think that needs to stop. I finally just put a generic laundry basket next to our washer and throw any kitchen stuff in with whatever load I’m doing. (except diapers of course)It made the switch so much easier and I’m not really doing any extra laundry! The hard part is convincing friends and family that they really can use the cloth!
I am so with you – it is not even going to make a dent in my weekly laundry. And I don’t do that much laundry! It’s just not a big deal at all. Why are your friends and family reluctant to use the cloth?
I think they just don’t want to make more work for me. It probably doesn’t help that the paper towels are right out on the counter and the napkins are in a cupboard. That should be an easy fix!
Woot! Here’s to using behavioral theory for the common good
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I admit I am kind of reluctant to use them at people’s houses. I wonder why they brought out the fancy linens for me
I can’t remember the last time I bought napkins. The hubs friends always give me a hard time and have for years! I don’t have fancy cloth napkins but it seems I have an un-ending supply of hand towels and that’s what we use.
That is awesome! For some reason we have a never-ending supply of washcloths which I end up using in a variety of food-related ways.
[...] Cloth napkins were easy. And I like them. I know why it took me a while to switch over, but in retrospect my reasons seem silly. Lesson learned – just go ahead and do it. Four napkins have been more than sufficient so far, and I’m still on the lookout for more cute ones at the thrift store. [...]