The Price of Convenience

If the world was perfect we would never throw anything away. However, I prefer to throw my kleenex away rather than carry a "hankie" around in my back pocket. My husband and I had the best of intentions when our son was born and used cloth diapers for the beginning part of his life. We lasted about a month and a half and then we adopted the goal of replacing at least one diaper change a day with cloth (hey, this kept 365 diapers out of the landfill). And then we got busy and disposable diapers were, well, convenient. (True eco-lovers should consider Infant Potty Training - yup, this is real).

I guess we should use a washcloth instead of wipes, but then we're doing more laundry.

I guess we should use a sponge instead of paper towels to clean up, but then we're doing more laundry, oh, and according to TV the germs are downright deadly.

I guess we should be coating every surface with a bleach-like substance to kill every germ, but then our lives would be coated with chemicals.

I guess we should recycle everything, but then I would have to soak and scrub peanut butter jars to get the greasy residue out.

We've all been guilted by the "shoulds:" buy quality clothes and have them tailored, buy good shoes and have them repaired, eat up every scrap of leftovers, turn those bones into stock, catch the rain water and use it to water your plants... I can't keep up! I want to do all of these green things, but most days, buy the time I have a moment to consider my impact on the earth it is 9:30pm and I'm just too darn tired.

True eco-citizens would find time and trust me, I'm trying, but we have to let some guilt go. However, there is one new product that I find to be completely unnecessary as well as symbolic of America's germ paranoia:



This is Kleenex's newest invention: disposable hand towels. You know, like the ones you find at a bar or restaurant. Nothing makes your house feel more welcoming than paper towels in the bathroom! The commercial shows a series of grubby-faced children and dirty-handed men using the same towel so that mothers everywhere will, first gasp in horror, then run to their nearest Walmart and purchase these towels by the skid-load. I know I have room to improve, but to suggest that the towel you use to wipe your hands, after you've washed them, is somehow wrought with danger is simply ridiculous. That commercial just pushed me over the edge the other night and dear husband had to listen to a rant that lasted several minutes!