Saving Trees… One Cloth at a Time
Once we learn something is important, it is impossible to keep it to ourselves!
Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.
Teaching and educating is my passion! My desire is to stir a ‘proactive spirit’ in people regarding their choices and the danger of harmful chemicals. Many people are not aware that what they are currently using is harmful to our environment.
University of Bergen Study
The University of Bergen in Norway recently performed a study of 6000 people over a 20 year period, who had regular exposure to cleaning products. It was found that their lung function had been significantly affected as much as a person who had smoked a pack-a-day for 20 years as well as put them at a 40% higher risk of developing asthma.
The study revealed was that “the small particles from the spray [cleaners] can remain in the air for hours after cleaning. The small particles can travel deep into the lungs and cause infections and ageing of the lungs” Dr. Svanes explains. Dr. Svanes, the main author of the study, recommends “You [do] not need a lot of chemicals after all, when cleaning. Microfiber cloths may be just as effective.”
Norwex performed chamber tests to compare the number of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs or small particles) released by chemical spray cleaners and paper towel vs. Norwex Microfiber cloths and water. The results were AMAZING!!! Traditional chemical cleaners released 800 times the VOCs than Norwex products! There is no need for dusting sprays, room deodorizers, artificial fragrances, floor cleaners, all-purpose cleaning sprays… when you have a Norwex EnviroCloth and water!
Problem: Paper Towel
Let me share some information about the truth about paper towel consumption in North America… and how Norwex provides a solution.
- On average, a person uses and disposes of 2,400 – 3,000 paper towels every year.
- Paper towels are used in 90% of households.
- The average family of 4 uses about 26 rolls of paper towels a year. That’s an annual expense of approximately $91 for a single-use, throwaway item that is clogging our landfills!
- Paper towel creates 13 billion pounds of waste every year! That works out to a whopping 3,000 tons of waste daily… comparable to the weight of 1650 economy cars!!!
- Most are made from virgin tree fibre and used only once.
- One paper towel is often not enough for many jobs, and some brands are even bleached with harmful chlorinated compounds—not good for your family or the environment.
- Residential dwellings are the largest contributor to pollution, not industrial.
- Long-term exposure to many of the cleaning products you use in your home every day has cancer-causing potential.
- What does it take to produce just 1 ton of paper towels? Approximately, 17 trees and 20,000 gallons of water!
- In North America, we have a huge paper towel habit. 3,000 tons of paper towel waste is produced every day and accounts for the consumption of approximately 51,000 trees and 60 million gallons of water!
- Paper towels, even when made of recycled materials still produce an environmental impact. The recycling process still uses water, energy and chemicals.
- If everyone cut back by one sheet of paper towel per day, it would save North America 571,230,000 pounds of paper towel waste, every year. Now imagine, if, one-by-one, households began to eliminate paper towel waste altogether…what kind of impact would we see then?
Solution: 4 Norwex Cloths
Norwex is a company that provides solutions for problems like paper towel. Let me highlight a few different eco-friendly Norwex products you could use to replace your paper towel.
EnviroCloth
The EnviroCloth is Norwex’s flagship product!!! The microfiber cloth has the ability to remove 99% of bacteria from a surface when following the proper care and use instructions. It contains Norwex’s exclusive Baclock™ agent – micro silver antibacterial agent – goes to self-purify and inhibits odours from bacteria, mold and mildew growth within the cloth within 24 hours so that it is ready to use again. The microfibers in the EnviroCloth are 1/200th the size of a human hair and if unravelled, have a maximum length of more than 3 million meters (10 million feet). The splitting process that happens during manufacturing creates open spaces in the fibres and enables the cloth to lift away dust and dirt and absorb serval times its own weight in water. And it only needs water to clean; no cleaner, chemicals or sprays required.
Doesn’t that sound better than a disposable paper towel??
Window Cloths
Window Cloths are designed to be used with the EnviroCloth. Once you have cleaned a surface with an EnviroCloth, use a Window Cloth to polish it to a streak-free shine. No paper towel or window spray required. If you love clean windows, but hate how long it takes, the EnviroCloth and Window Cloth will take 50% less time to clean and leave you with better results. The Window Cloth or ‘polishing cloth’ is constructed of tightly woven Norwex microfiber with the self-purifying Baclock™ agent, is lint-free, traps dust and grime in the cloth so your surface is cleaner, only needs water so there is no “chemical muck” left behind. This cloth will change your cleaning regime.
Counter Cloths
Norwex introduced Counter Cloths as a great alternative to paper towel. They are the same size as a half-sheet paper towel, come in beautiful colours, are made from 50% recycled materials, have a super-absorbent unique new weave for quick spill clean up. These beauties are perfect for your kitchen and bathroom. They even have Norwex’s self-purifying Baclock™ agent in the cloth. Seriously, with these handy little cloths, you won’t ever grab for a paper towel again!
Napkins
For anyone who loves to use a half-sized paper towel as their dinner napkin, Norwex has an alternative for you too. On average, a family of 4 uses more than 3000 paper napkins/paper towels a year. The Napkins are made from 50% recycled materials (5 plastic bottles per set of 4) and are lovely. They come in either charcoal or peacock blue, the microfiber also has Baclock™ agent so you can use them more than once before laundering, they are quick-drying and very absorbent, plus they make your dinner table look pretty. Saving trees and dressing up dinner all at the same time… not bad.
So, what can you do?
Let me give you a challenge! Next time you start a new roll of paper towel, take a pen and write in the date inside of the roll. First, try if you can go 4 months with one roll, then 6… then try if your family can stretch one roll of paper towel to last an entire year! You can do it! Other customers have done it, I know you can do it too. Imagine with me the impact that would be realized by simply changing the way we use paper towel.
Become an Educator
Since I started my Norwex journey in 2006, thousands of Consultants have been working with me to spread the word about these amazing products. I believe Nelson Mandela’s statement about the power of education… which means, we have a lot more educating to do! Every grocery and department store has at least one aisle stocked with toxic cleaning chemicals. Only 2% of North American homes use Norwex products… we have a lot of people to educate! Join my team, become an educator and help Norwex make a difference.
Are you going to take the paper towel challenge? Leave a comment about how it went. Was it easier or harder than you thought?
Resources:
https://www.uib.no/en/news/115228/household-cleaning-can-be-bad-smoking-lung-function
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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.
