We were shopping at Costco last week and I finally decided to try the paper towels they carry made out of recycled paper.  I had always debated it in the past because the Bounty paper towels we usually buy work really well and I didn’t want to spend $13 on paper towels if they weren’t going to work.  Starting this blog has inspired me to try things I wouldn’t normally, and I decided to go ahead and try the EarthFirst Paper Towels.

EarthFirst Paper Towels

I am pleasantly surprised by these paper towels.  While they aren’t quite as thick as the ones we normally buy they still work really well, and they are cut into smaller pieces so I use less than I would if I were using our normal variety.  They were also $2 or $3 cheaper than the Bounty paper towels and we can get them in bulk at Costco which saves us additional money. Bulk buying in itself is also good for the environment since you use less total packing for all of the products.  According to their packaging, they are made from 100% recycled paper, they are hypo-allergenic, and are whitened without bleach which are all great for the environment.  The packaging is also environmentally friendly with a life span of only 18 months. So we’d better use them before then or I’m not sure what will happen!

Even if you don’t always use recycled paper products, just using them every once in a while will save trees!  According to the Natural Resources Defense Council “If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees.” Next time you are at the store, try some recycled paper products and help the environment.

One of the first steps we took in becoming green was to switch out the light bulbs we were using with Compact Fluorescent Lights or CFL’s. Simply changing these lights and improving the energy efficiency of your lighting results in reduced pollution for the environment and lower costs for you over the life of the light bulb.
According to EnergyStar:

“If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.”

The downside to CFL’s is that they contain small amounts of mercury and need to be disposed of specially rather than just dumped in the trash and sent to the landfill.  Broken CFL’s leak mercury which could end up in the environment.  If your electricity is supplied by coal burning power plants you’ll still reduce mercury in the environment by switching, even if you don’t dispose of the light bulbs properly.  This is because regular incandescent bulbs use more energy and cause coal burning plants to release more mercury than the CFL’s contain.  Check out Earth 911 to find places near you that accept CFL’s for recycling, so you can save money and help out the environment.

Changing out your light bulbs is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to become greener.  Although there is a slight upfront cost to the CFL’s they last longer and save you money in electric bills.  Even if you just buy one every time you go to the store, you can replace all of the light bulbs in your house in a month or two and start enjoying energy savings.