Getting away from paper towel!

I just read a fantastic article here on PlanetGreen.com on '3 Ways to Ditch Paper Towels'.  It reminded me that I need to get working on some more rags for use around here!  Paper towels are not only a complete waste in our landfills, but they are also a huge waste on our wallets!  The article listed that one of the things that you can do is to have a rag bucket or drawer, and I think that is a great idea, we have our rags in a basket (purchased at a local thrift store) right on our counter so they are always easy to get to- with a mechanic husband, young son, baby, and carpenter in the house, we have to have a ton of them!

On thing that I have done to keep our rag supply stocked is to check with my favorite local thrift store for clothing items (or sheets, ect) that they can't/won't sell, and buy them at a discounted cost.  Our local thrift store is a non-profit that contributes to the local community, so I can't help feel a sense of pride that I have not only kept some hand 'rags' out of the dump, but I am also helping out my community!  I bet if you check, you'll find you can do the same thing!

Making rags, napkins and kitchen towels is a pretty easy thing to do!  In the next week or so I am going to be making napkins out of some old bedsheets that I found, they have a small stain on them- so the thrift store wasn't going to be able to sell them, but I can simply cut around them to have some fantastic napkins!

If you have a serger (like I am so blessed to have) then making rags is a snap- just serge around the edges and secure, wash, use, repeat- just that simple! 

If you have a sewing machine, then all you need to do is create a nice finished seam around the edge, sew, wash, use and repeat- a slight bit more effort, but well worth it when you see how much money you'll be saving!

If you don't have either a sewing machine, or serger, then you can use a product call Fray Check around the edges.  This is a bit of a time consuming process- so you may want to consider finding yourself a sewing machine, they have them on CraigsList.com all of the time- but think of it this way; time is money, and that is exactly what you'll be saving here!

If making your own doesn't sound like something you want to invest in, then be sure to check out web-sites like Etsy.com.  Just do a search for "paper towel" and you will be amazed at the number of products that you can find.  There are plenty of artisans out there that want to help you be green!

Also keep in mind that these rags will have plenty of other helpful uses, one of my favorite things to do now is served my fresh baked rolls in a basket with one of my favorite new kitchen towels keeping them warm- a super simple touch that means a lot!  You can see in the picture that there is a stain in the middle of this kitchen towel- which is why I got this used-to-be-shirt so cheap, but no one is ever going to see it!  And it doesn't affect how well it works at all!