Unfortunately I have yet to find the magic napkin fairy and get her fairy dust in gear producing all the worlds paper products which means that until I do catch her, paper products come from trees. What?! you say. Yes, tis true.
Upon first glance, the idea that napkins and paper towels come from trees does seem to fall into the Simpson territory of DUH! But step back and think about it, or not think about it as the case may be. Everytime you grab a bunch of napkins, or some paper towels, do you really pay attention to what you’re doing? I know I certainly don’t. However, when I stumbled upon the concept of These Come From Trees I decided to grab my beakers and lab coat and conduct my own scientific experiment. This only consisted of paying attention to every napkin & paper towel I grabbed, and just that small shift in awareness made me use fewer. But if you’re looking for a more scientific experiment:
* Testing shows a “These Come From Trees” sticker on a paper towel dispenser reduces paper towel consumption by ~15%
* A typical fast food restaurant with two bathrooms can use up to 2000 pounds of paper towels a year
* The average coffee shop uses 1000 pounds of paper towels a year
* A single tree produces around 100 pounds of paper
* A single “These Come From Trees” sticker can save around a tree’s worth of paper, every year
* Roughly 50,000 fast food restaurants in the US
Pete Kazanjy journey into tree-saving “was predicated on my belief that all things being equal, most people want to do the right thing. And this extends to conservation as well. As long as it’s not terribly costly (like giving up your car, or riding to work in the rain), people are usually open to an environmental message.”
You can purchase these stickers for friendly reminders in you neck of the woods through their website. The cost $5 - 20, $10 - 50 & $18 - 100. “The charge is to cover cost of stickers, postage, and the fulfillment costs. Any overage will be donated to Sierra Club.”
These stickers are laminated, so they will stand up to rigorous bathroom cleaning, and each sticker saves about a trees worth of paper! I’ve already got mine on order, look out KU public restrooms, a tree savers on the way!
