Paper hand towels are an important thing to use for proper hand hygiene. Paper towels can destroy as much as 77% of the bacteria that stays on your hands after washing. But there are some crucial things you have to know about using paper hand towels.
1. Paper Hand Towels can’t be recycled
Paper towels are infected waste; consequently, all of them ought to be disposed of to landfill. Although paper towels may be crafted from recycled paper, they will be the final paper product to be made inside that recycling chain. The paper they may be crafted from has been recycled as many as seven instances before. The fibres are simply too short in paper towels for re-use.
2. Decomposing paper hand towels make contributions to global warming
The decay of paper merchandise and landfills produce methane gas that’s 28 times stronger than carbon dioxide and consequently is a direct contributor to global warming. They also are regularly put in plastic bags, causing further downstream issues inside the recycling system.
3. The common paper towel generates greater CO2
Life Cycle analysis indicates that felling raw materials, transportation, manufacturing, packaging, and storing on a consistent loop significantly produce lots of CO2. For making 1 tonne of paper towels, 17 trees are destroyed, and 20,000 gallons of water are polluted.
It has been mentioned above that decomposing paper towels produce dangerous methane gas. Methane gas is a major contributor to global warming.
4. Paper Towels are one of the most important reasons for blocked drains
Some people dispose of paper towel inappropriately (e.g. via the toilet) and this cause drainage and plumbing blockages.
5. An unfilled paper towel dispenser can be more un-hygienic
It’s been noticed that 6 times more bacteria arise on paper-towel dispensers that are push-and-crank operated. Manufacturers are continuously bringing out touchless structures with captive refills that will cost more; the reality is that almost all consumers still need to buy cheaply.
6. Paper towel price is more costly than normal hand dryers
At the outset, paper towel dispensers may cost less but, over time, the financial savings can be huge when comparing low-power-consuming hand dryers with ongoing paper towel costs. Research has found that energy-efficient hand driers are ultimately 95% more cost-saving than paper towels.
7. There are hygiene issues with paper towels
It has been observed that most of the germs can be transferred from people’s hands to paper towel dispensers and then returned from the dispenser to the hands. This happens when people consistently have trouble dispensing paper towels from the dispenser and touch the device frequently.
A thorough examination proved that bacteria lives on paper towels, but this rarely gets mentioned in the news or advertisements. So again, it shows that paper towels aren’t as sanitary as one might expect.
Conclusion
Paper hand towels tend to be a lot more expensive than hand dryers in the long term. Paper towels are usually made from trees and bamboo grasses, so dryers have a much less carbon footprint.
However, while we examine it from a hygienic angle, research has found that paper hand towels can be the maximum efficient for stopping the spread of germs and sicknesses, providing the dispenser is automated or no-touch.
Written by Lara Buck
