Should I be ashamed to say....

[OakLeaf]

Marcal paper towels (available at Staples) are 100% recycled, a large proportion post-consumer, and they come in the half sheets. The TP is a little rough, but it's fine for me. As long as I don't have food poisoning (ok sorry TMI).

Yeah, canning. I like to have home grown and home-preserved produce, but I'm under no illusions that home canning is environmentally friendly. The energy inefficiency is pretty much staggering, actually. A couple of paper towels to wipe the jar rims doesn't amount to much when you're leaving two burners on the stove maxed for four or five hours... never mind the water consumption.

[GLC1968]

Marcal paper towels (available at Staples) are 100% recycled, a large proportion post-consumer, and they come in the half sheets. The TP is a little rough, but it's fine for me. As long as I don't have food poisoning (ok sorry TMI).

Yeah, canning. I like to have home grown and home-preserved produce, but I'm under no illusions that home canning is environmentally friendly. The energy inefficiency is pretty much staggering, actually. A couple of paper towels to wipe the jar rims doesn't amount to much when you're leaving two burners on the stove maxed for four or five hours... never mind the water consumption.

I disagree. I certainly don't use much water (I recycle the canner water over and over again) and once we get our PV panels up, the electricty usage will be minimal. In the meantime, I am only doing waterbath canning so it's like 40 minutes including warm up time, tops. I then keep the pot warm with towels while I'm prepping the next load instead of running the stove. I also use the crock pot whenever possible (for apple butter and the like) instead of heating up the stove. Everything else I use is hand powered (peelers, food mill, etc). It takes awhile, but it's not exactly a fast process anyway.

I guess my thought is that while the action of canning using power grid electricity may not be environmentally friendly in and of itself, if you compare it to the mass-produced canned goods shipped from somewhere else in the world, it's a step in the right direction. It's local, it's fresh and it's organically/sustainably grown. Plus, the more food I put up now, the less travel I'll have to do in order to eat come December. Way less fossil fuels burned in the long run...at least, that's what I'm thinking.

Thanks for the tip on the Marcal towels. I'll have to see if we have a local Staples!

[tulip]

GLC, I wouldn't worry about your use of paper towels with all the other things you are doing right. Funny, though, I had the paper towel thought today, too. I like Bounty, I don't like flimsy paper towels that just don't pick up!

[sundial]

I had a brief moment of guilt when I looked at my trash that was full of disposed shop towels. I don't like using rags when I paint and use those tough blue shop paper towels. Guess I'm a member of the paper towel club.