Americans Are Weirdly Obsessed With Paper Towels

[douglas9]

Every day, as Americans dry their hands, soak up their spills, and wipe their counters, they are—whether they know it or not—contributing to their country’s dominance. In an era of waning American exceptionalism, inhabitants can at least pride themselves on an underratedly important, probably shameful distinction: They reside in the paper-towel capital of the world.

This status is unquestioned. According to data shared with me by the market-research firm Euromonitor International, global spending on paper towels for use at home (but not in office or public bathrooms) added up to about $12 billion in 2017, and Americans accounted for about $5.7 billion of that total. In other words, the U.S. spends nearly as much on paper towels as every other country in the world combined.

Read: The privilege of buying 36 rolls of toilet paper at once

No other nation even comes close: France, the runner-up in nationwide spending, only purchased about $635 million worth of paper towels last year, and the U.K., Germany, and Italy rounded out the top five paper-towel-buying countries.

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/12/paper-towels-us-use-consume/577672/

[RGinNJ]

1. I am very frugal, and have always used cloth.

Napkins and towels can be washed.

[matt819]

2. Guilty as charged

For many years I used the various brands of wipes - Clorox, Lysol, etc. I started feeling guilty about the wastefulness - paper and the plastic containers it comes in.

So I went back to paper towel for cleaning my countertops. Spray bleach-based cleaner, wipe, done. Germs killed.

Sponges just spread germs around.

Unless bacteria behaves differently in the rest of the world, I'm stumped as to how those folks are cleaning their surfaces.

As for hand drying or dish drying - cloth - that's a no brainer.

But the idea of using sponges to clean countertops and stove surfaces is appalling.

[violetpastille]

6. I agree with you about sponges

I use microfiber cloths and they are fantastic! An enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

If you don't like the idea of sopping cloths waiting around to be laundered, microfiber is great because they clean really well (the little microfingers) and wring out really well.

[Nitram]

9. Sponges are great for cleaning up grease and spilled food and drink. You can always follow that up

with a cloth and some disinfectant if you are worried about germs. Having lived for decades in other countries, I find that Americans are genuinely germ-phobic. Yes, we are surrounded by billions of germs, but if your immune system is not compromised, you can handle them without illness.

[JenniferJuniper]

3. I'm a handi-wipe kinda gal

Although they can be hard to find.

[Ohiogal]

4. I do buy paper towels

But I use them very sparingly.

I don't like to buy things that you use once and throw away if I can help it. It seems so wasteful.

I use old rags in my Swiffer mop and just keep washing them. It's only for cleaning the floor, why buy and use something only once?

I even kept a stack of wash cloths separate for when I had to change my kids' diapers. Never, ever, bought the wipes. Well, when they were small we didn't have a lot of money, so that's one reason. But I am kind of a frugal person to begin with.

[safeinOhio]

5. Doesn't a lot of that go to the

Kock Brothers?

[matt819]

7. Yes, but

Their paper company is Georgia-Pacific. I don't buy any Georgia Pacific paper products - paper towel or toilet paper (why do the grocery stores insist on calling it bath tissue? and how the hell did bears come to signify softness or quality - that's fucked up. don't get me wrong. Bears are very cute, at least on the other side of the patio door. But they'll kill you given the slightest reason.)

Not that any of the others are any less vile environmentally or politically, but it's my small fuck you gesture.

[Nitram]

8. The over-use of paper towels is a pet peeve of mine. Nobody listens. I pull slightly used paper

towels out of the trash at work to wipe the stovetop or the counter. At home the older sponge is used for dirty work, the newer one for clear work. Old cotton t-shirts make great cleaning rags.