Obligatory Earth Day Post

I suppose because it's Earth Day, and on every radio station, tv channel and website, there's some helpful Earth-friendly tip or statistic, I got inspired this afternoon. We blow through paper towels like nobody's business around here. In our defense, we generate a lot of mess though. Take two parts cat mess; add one part baby mess; a heaping tablespoon of compulsive cleaning and that adds up to about one roll of paper towels every day and a half or so. It dawned upon me today that, not only are we adding a lot of waste to the Earth, we're also blowing a lot of money on something that we're just throwing away. It's ironic too because I just cleaned out Anna's dresser this weekend and I found all of the soft, cloth diapers that we used as burp towels when she was itty bitty. I've actually missed laundering them because they were fun for me to fold them just so...all straight and perfect (Don't ask. It's sad, really). I suppose it was kismet that I found those diapers right as I was inspired to change our paper towel habit. Now, the diapers are in our kitchen and will be used for face and hand wiping after Anna's meals; kitchen counter wiping; dish drying; minor mess clean up; etc. Since I do at least one load of laundry each day, it will be easy to throw these diapers in with the wash each day. I'm curious to know if we'll notice a difference in our paper towel consumption. I really hope so.