Green is Universal: Sanctimonious Dishcloth Rant

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Sanctimonious Dishcloth Rant

Posted at 01:17 PM on November 21, 2007 comments (2)

By Heather Stephenson, IdealBite.com

In a move that apparently makes me horrifically old-fashioned (if the comments of my peers are any indication), I admit to being quite attached to cleaning my counters with actual dishcloths. If I spill something and it's a bigger job than a cloth can handle, I grab an old tea towel and soak it up. Everything tosses into the washer. To me, this makes perfect sense.

But for whatever reason, it seems like most people I know use some version of a freakin' baby wipe to sweep down their counters. You know the ones - anti-bacterial disposable wipes - one swipe and a toss. And god forbid a glass of wine upends on the counter or kitchen floor... out come the paper towels - a whole roll in the service of mopping up something that could just as easily have been sucked into washable, reusable towel.

When did we become such creepy germophobes? Has anyone ever seen any studies that show that the kids of parents who use bleach-infused wipes instead of a dishcloth (maybe even a cloth that's a day past its prime and might need to head to the laundry) have fewer bouts of sickness than those who use a dishcloth? (This isn't rhetorical - if you know of a study, let me know... I've never found one.) Is it really more convenient to go to the store, buy a plastic package of countertop-babywipes, find said wipes under the sink, rip out seven or eight, clean, and ultimately recycle the plastic package, than it is to wash and fold a few cloths and towels?

Really?

Heather Stephenson
Co-Founder, Ideal Bite

comments

Posted by: Nathan Vanags on November 24, 2007 04:25 PM

Hello Heather,
I have to agree with you on this one. I am currently taking a Sustainable Interior Design class, and we have discussions about this subject matter constantly. Take it a step further and tell people not to use the flushable baby wipes for adults. Its quite ridiculous to pollute our water system with such nonsense. If you read the label on some of them they are made of polyurathane and other synthetic fabrics, which in fact need to be recycled to be re-used, not flushed into our water system.
-Nathan

Posted by: Marissa on November 25, 2007 06:57 PM

Hey Heather:

One better. Don't use disposable baby diapers. My daughter had a terrible rash that would not clear up. I ended going to old fashioned cloth diapers and plastic pants. After a few changing with diaper cream and old fashioned cloth diapers her rash cleared up. It seems the plastic disposable diapers kept her wet longer. When she wet the cloth diapers she was quick to let me know she was wet so I changed her more often. Now no rash! I made my own by the way. Went to the store, bought one of the expensive cloth ones with velcro as a pattern, then bought the cheap ones and some velcro - folded them and sewed on the velcro and had instant expensive diapers!