Goin' Paperless...

Whether it is because of a noble stand we're taking or because of the guilt I feel over a recent impulse purchase, we (and by "we", I mean "I") have decided to go paperless in our household! No more paper towels, no more paper napkins, and no more toilet paper...well, OK, the last one isn't true, but I thought it might be funny.

First of all, why should we go paperless? Well, for me it is a noble two-fold reason: 1)we waste way too much paper and 2)the paper we are throwing in the trash is pretty expensive. Why pay big money for inevitable trash? And, why kill a tree in the process? (What did a tree ever do to you, unless of course, a tree has fallen on you or your home, in which case, please accept my humble apologies--especially to my mother-in-law Donna.)

Now for my not-so-noble reason. I was sucked into one of those store gimmicks the other day where they announce over the intercom that an AMAZING product will be demonstrated in two minutes and only people in the store will be able to claim a free gift, etc. That day, the product was the Magicloth, a chamois-type towel that can part the Red Sea with it's absorbent power. I stood and watched, received my free gift (a small square of a Magicloth), answered a couple of questions (I tend to pay attention when people talk--it's the teacher in me) and received two more free squares of Magicloth. I watched the rag soak up water from a pie plate that was nearly overflowing (I can't tell you how often this has happened to me--don't you just hate it when your pie plates start flooding?) and then the presenter POURED a 2-Liter bottle of diet soda onto some carpet, and the Magicloth absorbed all of that, too. Now, I don't pour soda onto my carpet very often, but my toddler DOES pour chocolate milk on the floor occasionally. Could this be the answer to my problems? Finally, the presenter clenched the deal. "You can even replace your paper towels with these Magicloths!" That's all I needed to hear. I was almost out of paper towels, and the thought of going to Sam's to buy the industrial-size package and then STORE it was something I was not looking forward to. And, so, I became the proud owner of two packages of Magicloths (4 large towels, total). The price was about the same as the cost of the mega-pack of paper towels, so I thought, why not?

I took the lovely khaki brown towels home (they are approved for military field use, of course, so they must look like the desert) and cut two of them into four pieces each. I stashed the other two under the sink unopened in case I need a quick gift later. (Watch out, Teresa, your birthday is coming up!) I have used them now in place of paper towels for two whole days, and so far so good. They do wash well in the washing machine, and they dry pretty quickly (although, you must be careful to hang them dry--that was one of the questions I answered correctly at the demonstration). I DON'T use them to dry my hair as the instructions suggest is possible--that seems a little weird to me.

Am I 100% confident that we will be able to use these towels to totally replace our paper ones? Not really. Already we realized while planning for the recent tropical storm that washable towels are great until it's not possible to wash them anymore because the electricity isn't working. We bought one roll of paper towels and agreed that they were only to be used in an emergency. So, we shall see how this paperless venture goes--stay tuned!

Be sure to visit Biblical Womanhood's Frugal Friday for ideas on saving money!

Do you have a great granola recipe? I would love to see it!