From paper to cloth

Paper napkins, paper towels, paper tissues...these products were regularly on our grocery list at one point in time.  They were so easy, so convenient, and we were so used to buying them that we didn't give their presence in our budget a second thought, let alone what sort of environmental impact they might have had.  But we've incrementally switched to using cloth versions: cloth napkins, cloth diapers and old towels, and cloth tissues (a.k.a. handkerchiefs). 

I still keep a roll of recycled select-a-size paper towels on my kitchen counter for small, quick jobs, but it takes well over a month to go through one roll because I use old diapers and towels for messes and spills now.  And we keep a box of Puffs Plus facial tissues in our main bathroom for guests.  But honestly, I much prefer all of the cloth versions.  Cloth napkins feel so much more elegant and help wipe up spills at the dinner table caused by an energetic four-year-old better than their paper counterparts.  Cloth diapers soak up so much more liquid than paper towels (extremely handy when said four-year-old tries to pour his own milk on the kitchen floor) and clean windows and glass with ease.  Old, ratty towels and washcloths are great for your everyday cleaning jobs around the house.  And when cold season hits, handkerchiefs really do protect one's runny nose from turning into one akin to Rudolph's.

As with many things "green," a case can be made for frugality as well.  We use these napkins, towels, and tissues over and over and over again, and plan to for many years until they utterly fall apart, so we're saving a ton of money.  But we're also doing something responsible for the environment by reducing the amount of paper products produced (which saves trees as well as lakes and rivers from the byproducts of production), in addition to the amount of paper products finding their way into landfills.  Plus, as an added bonus, the performance of the cloth versions far exceeds that of the paper ones.  It's a win-win-win!

These things take time.  We didn't stop using paper for everything in just one day (and we really still haven't) - it happened in baby steps over a few months, maybe even a year.  In fact, there's still one step toward paper reduction that we haven't taken:  toilet paper.  Just the thought of using cloth for that area of life gives me the heebie-jeebies, but we'll probably someday take that step as well.  (I'm hoping that getting back into cloth diapering with this next little one will give me some incentive and motivation.)  So, we still have some changes to make, and when we're ready, we'll take another baby step.

What kind of baby steps are you taking or thinking of taking in regards to paper?

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Apologies for poor picture quality.