We use a lot of paper towels. Mostly because we never have any clean towels in the kitchen. Well, that and they are convenient. We do compost them, so they don't end up clogging our garbage can, but lately I've been thinking about our need to use more cloth napkins. I finally bought more kitchen towels so we *should* have some in the kitchen at all times.
Costco had a big pack of microfiber towels so I got those. Did you know that you don't need to use cleaners when you are using microfiber? All you need is to wet it down and the microfibers do the cleaning work. This is great. The ones from Costco are full dish towel sized so I need to cut a few in half for cleaning counters and sinks and such. Yes, I do that occasionally.
I have TONS of fabric pieces that I should be able to make tons of cloth napkins out of. They are super easy to make. I'm pretty sure you can buy them cheaply at discount stores as well.
So, what about packing lunches? We've made the switch to mostly glass storage containers for the fridge. I found a bunch at Walmart for pretty cheap. The problem is Arthur doesn't like to take the glass containers in his lunches. The other issue is all the plastic baggies we go through. I know you can buy some made out of corn starch somewhere. I saw a great idea somewhere to wrap sandwiches and fruit and stuff in cloth napkins or bandanas. OK, I know it would take some convincing to get Arthur to buy into this one. But seriously, it would save some plastic bags from the landfill or the incinerator.
What do you do in your kitchen to save garbage and waste?
