I have a confession to make. Whilest changing many of our every day things to more eco-friendly options I have one big thing that I have refused to change, due in part to a little old lady I met a few years ago.
I formally used dish clothes to do dishes and cleaning around the kitchen. I tried hard not to think about how gross it was that the dish clothes progressively got stiffer and almost crunchy the more I used them. If it got bad, I would throw them away.
Then on a day at work – doing in-home care – I met a lovely little old lady. She was funny, tiny, short and hump backed. It was almost unnecessary for me to be there as can be the case with in-home care. She was reasonably self-sufficient and stubborn. She wanted help on her terms.
I went to do what I could, get the mail, sweep, offer to make her food, which she refused because according to her she does not need me to tear off the plastic top for a microwave dinner. I cleaned for her. I looked around the little trailer for a dishcloth or sponge. Finding none, I asked. She explained that she had few fears, but one of them was germs. She does not use dish clothes, don’t I know how many germs those spread around? She used paper towels. After one cleaning, she threw them away.
At the time, I considered this wasteful, but one part of me, the clean freak, thought about the crunchy dish clothes at home and shuddered. Thus started my affair with paper towels.
Now, three years later, I still use paper towels. While deciding to become greener I “forgot” about my paper towels. The crunchy dishtowels dance little gross jigs in my imagination, taunting me: “You think you are cleaning, but you are just spreading germs, that will make you sick later, which you will blame on someone else!” I was not ready to give up the disposable towel.
Now several months into my change I am being pulled in a different direction. I know that it is bad to throw away so many paper towels. I did not see an out, a good fix for me. Now however, I have an idea. While packing I came across knitted wash clothes from my grandmother-in-law. They are adorable. I have never used them because they are too pretty. What if I made my own, on which I will have not emotional attachment? I have extra yarn from projects. I could use it up, which will allow me to declutter and upcycle at the same time. I’ll use them until I deem they need to go to the garbage pail. And once they are gone I will replace them with 100% cotton or bamboo or wool cloths that I will crochet or knit (once I learn how). It seems a good idea, what do you think? By switching to cloth, I will be throwing less away. I can also choose to clean them more sufficiently, by boiling in vinegar and then washing.
I am nervous about the dancing germ cloths, but realize that I must compromise to achieve my goals and be a better Earth-steward.
