I don't know about you all, but between November and April I average about one cold a month. The rest of the year I do a good impression of Snow White's dwarf Sneezy. I'm just allergic to everything.
I go through a LOT of tissues in a year.
Or at least, I used to. I made the great handkerchief switch about a year ago right after I bought a 12-pack of kleenex boxes at our Costco warehouse club. There were three problems with this in my mind. I think the 12 boxes cost about $25. I could easily spend over $50 on Kleenex in a year. Not to mention the waste! Oh, and tissues take up a huge amount of space. I have, er, fond memories of going into the linen closet as a kid and having my father's stash of 24 kleenex boxes topple onto me. No thank you. I desperately want to stop stockpiling.
But alas, I'm also a medical librarian. I understand the germ theory of disease, though obviously not well enough to keep from getting sick six times a year! I've worked in hospitals. Handkerchiefs seemed like a really, really bad idea when it came to hygiene. I looked at when I tend to use the most tissues. Easy -- when I'm home sick I can go through a box in a day. I now use handkerchiefs when I am sick and quarantined at home. The husband doesn't mind because he never seems to get sick! When I go out in public I use tissues instead.
And what do you know? That stack of 12 tissue boxes has lasted a long time. Now I use six boxes a year instead of 24 and I figure I save around $35.
I keep my handkerchiefs in a pencil case I got at Harrod's which you can see in the picture. It's one of my few souvenirs of a college trip to London. I'm glad it now serves a purpose and I don't have to declutter it. The pouch takes up less space in the cabinet than a single box. In the future I hope to only keep a couple spare tissue boxes on hand.
Now that I've grossed you all out...what do you think about handkerchiefs? Do you use them? What works for you? Or was there a product that you used to stockpile but now you have something reusable instead? What is it?
I'm a HUGE fan of the hankie. I don't get sick often anymore (being a homebody helps) but I have terrible allergies and even when I'm not sneezing my nose just seems to run.
ReplyDeleteBut here's the thing, I think my allergies got MUCH better after I made the switch. Tissues seem to produce some sort of dust... just small particles that come off the tissue which irritate my nose. So if I use a tissue, it generally makes my sneeze more.
I never noticed that, but now that you mention it, that's another very good reason to ditch the tissues at home!
DeleteI have flirted with the idea of using handkerchiefs, but have never actually done it. I don't have allergy issues, so I'm not a big tissue user, but I agree that they are very wasteful. I've managed to switch from paper towels and paper napkins to cloth, so tissues are my last replaceable paper product to conquer.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've done an awesome job so far! I can understand though why a lot of people will always prefer the tissues.
DeleteIn theory I have handkerchiefs (and an old bandanna) to use when I have a cold....but what actually happens is that I grab the nearest thing..which is loo roll, as I don't have tissues in the house. I do compost them though.
ReplyDeleteMust remember to get the hankies out next time!
That's one idea, it certainly takes longer to run out when you're using the bathroom tissue!
DeleteI'm pretty sure I could NEVER do the handkerchief thing as I'm a huge germaphobe. I would just worry that the washing machine would not get them clean enough, then germs would be spreading like wildfire through the rest of the house meaning that I would go from being to dealing with sick children. Yeah, I try to avoid that scenario as much as humanly possible. We tend to NOT buy tissues and just use toilet paper. Works for us, and we can just flush it down rather than tossing it in the trash :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I have kids I have a feeling I will be thinking exactly the same thing!
DeleteThat's the very reason why I iron hankies.
DeleteI don't iron clothes (unless I'm going to a wedding or similar), but I do wash hankies and tea towels at 90'Celcius and iron them as hot as I can.
(However sometimes I'm using toilet paper as well, but mostly hankerchiefs, as I like them better)
Great idea! I've ditched the paper napkins, but probably use tissues as often as you do. I'll be scoping out some pre-holiday hanky sales now.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with a Dad who only used a hankie. And it has stuck. I usually won't use one for myself because I don't need to very often anyways, but for the kids and daycare kids, I just use my huge stack of cloth wipes (we cloth diaper) and I just toss them in with my diaper laundry! Works great and in the last 2 months has saved me probably 3 boxes of kleenex!!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't made the switch to hankies yet, but a box of tissues lasts me a very long time. I am nearing the bottom of a box I've had the past 4-5 mos. Maybe I should get a few hankies?
ReplyDeleteI don't buy plastic wrap anymore. I use reusable (mostly glass) containers and picked up a set of of those vacuum seal lids to go on my regular bowls and baking dishes. I've made a big effort to avoid disposable "stuff" and plastics, but backslid a bit after moving into the rv where space/weight are big issues.