While my coffee on the run habit has dwindled to a rare indulgence, I find that if I keep a travel mug in my car I'm more likely to remember to use it, thereby diverting at least one paper cup from the landfill. Most coffee shops are happy to serve their patrons coffee in a reusable container, and some even offer a slight discount.
According to Carbonrally, 14.4 billion cups of coffee are bought in disposable paper cups each year. Placed end-to-end, they say, these cups would wrap around the earth 55 times and weigh around 900 million pounds. How's that for inspiration to change?
Whether your drink of choice is hot or cold, bringing your own container will eliminate an unnecessary contribution to the landfill. (In addition to the plastic lid, insulated takeout cups have a thin plastic lining hidden under the innocuous looking paper, which means the cups are not recyclable.)
If you’re still using paper towels to clean your windows, it’s time to make a switch. One solution is to use crumpled newspaper instead, but it does tend to leave your hands black and inky. I prefer to use cotton rags. My system is two-handed: squirt homemade window cleaner on the window, then use one rag to wipe most of the grime and cleaner away (right hand). Follow this with final wipe-down with a dry rag (left hand).
Photo: Flickr user D’Arcy Norman
I use newspapers for cleaning windows and to avoid the inky hands I put on rubber gloves. I find cotton leaves little lint streaks and the newspaper doesn’t.
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I’ve got microfibre cloths I use for most cleaning tasks. They do a great job and are, of course, washable.
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I tried newspapers and I ended up black streaks all over the window casings and frame. Not good. Cotton rags sounds like a better choice.
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I bought Norwex cloths (the wash cloth and drying cloth for windows). They work great with just water. Now the ony time I use any soap or window cleaner on my windows is when they are REALY dirty, the rest of the time just water and the cloth is enough to clean not only my windows but the TV, stainless steel, polish up taps, etc….