Swedish Dishcloths Save the Earth!

Swedish dishcloths are an eco-warrior's secret weapon against the wasteful tyranny of paper towels.  

Or are they? 

First, let's wipe through the grease and grime of our favorite kitchen helpers so we can get a streak-free view of the forest through the trees. Each year, 110 million trees are sacrificed in the pursuit of dry hands, clean counters, and mopped-up coffee spills. To put that number into context for Americans, the equivalent amount of forest would fill 554,000 football fields. Sure, paper towels can soak up water like an elephant at the watering hole (thanks to a chemical additive), but since 130 million gallons of water are used to manufacture them each year, we might be leaving our animal friends dry at the hole. The good news is that paper towels are compostable. The bad news is they’re not. At least our discards won’t be lonely—6 million pounds of paper towels are tossed into the trash every day in the U.S.

Back to the Swedish dishcloth. These nifty pieces of cloth are durable (each one lasts 4-6 months), absorbent (20x their weight in water), affordable ($9.92 for a three pack), easy to clean (throw ‘em in the dishwasher), and, dare I say, stylish. They can tackle messes of epic proportions, all while looking chic in their Scandinavian simplicity. When they’re worn out, they spend their golden years breaking down into compost. 

So, when my first shipment of Swedish dishcloths arrived, I tore open the recycled, plastic-free packaging, hid our remaining stash of paper towels from the rest of my family, and haven’t looked back. 

Now, I’m on a serious carb(on) cutting diet, so I couldn’t wait to calculate how many pounds of carbon these little marvels would shave off of my footprint. I previously calculated that I needed to cut 8,000 pounds of CO2e per year from my personal carbon budget just to reach a sustainable level of living. So, by banishing paper towels to my pre-carb conscious life, my one-fifth share of my family’s savings was 77.75 pounds of CO2e for a net 0.97% reduction. As a planet, we need to cut about 30 gigatons of CO2e per year by 2030. And then we need to cut even more.

By cutting out paper towels, my entire family would only save a little over one tree per year. That’s nothing compared to 110 million trees. And paper products only account for about 1% of greenhouse gas emissions. 

Cue the eco-anxiety thought spirals that play in a continuous loop in the background of my mind like over-synthesized 80’s pop muzak: I can’t make a difference. The problem’s too big. It’s too late. Governments will never change. The climate crisis can only be solved by the “experts.”

And who, exactly, are the so-called experts? Unfortunately, too few of the people with the greatest power to solve the climate crisis—the politicians—are neither experts nor willing to listen to the actual experts and take action. Too many of our elected “leaders” either deny the science (while taking money from the fossil fuel industry) or are too focused on other “immediate” problems—the economy, jobs, re-election. 

The true experts are the scientists. They’ve defined the problem (the planet is warming), identified the causes (greenhouse gas emissions) and the catastrophic effects (too many to name here), and discovered the solution (stop using fossil fuels—NOW!). Ironically, news about the causes and cures for the climate crisis can’t compete with coverage of the effects of a warming, polluted planet in the form of natural and non-natural disasters: fires, floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, chemical spills. We’re shown coverage of the lives lost, people displaced, families torn apart. Such a tragedy. Those poor people. We must help them! Then, as soon as the media has moved on to the next catastrophe, disasterpreneurs swoop in and build expensive condos and golf courses. 

It’s kinda like Squid Games. But for real. 

Thankfully, my thought spiral was interrupted by my 5th grader’s wonderful teachers when they shared the Habits of a Mathematician: 1) I persist in challenging problems 2) I communicate ideas as clearly as possible 3) I demonstrate creativity 4) I try several approaches to the problem and 5) I encourage my peers.

If only teachers ran our country… 

So, I reframed the problem/opportunity and thought about it differently. Swedish dishcloths won’t solve the climate crisis, but we can’t expect the change we want without the willingness to change ourselves. Real, lasting change won’t be possible until enough of us demand a cleaner, sustainable future with our dollars, our voices, our time and energy, and our votes. But we can’t wait another century, decade, year, month, day. Today, right now, this moment is all we’ve got.

Failure is simply not an option.  

I relooked at the numbers. The carbon savings in a year for my entire family are 388 pounds of CO2e. In a decade, the savings will exceed 1.5 tons of CO2e. It’s a start. 

This is an easy swap that requires very little effort, saves money, and works well. If 10% of Americans stopped using paper towels or if we consumed 10% fewer paper towels, the savings would be over $600M, 1.1M trees, and 12M tons of CO2e saved. A ten percent reduction is doable.

How many trees could we plant with over half a billion dollars? How much renewable energy could we generate? 

For my family, the savings were more than I realized—$942 per year after subtracting the cost of a year's worth of Swedish dishcloths ($29.76). I looked into purchasing carbon offsets with the savings. With prices ranging from $1 to over $1,000 to offset a ton of carbon, and serious questions raised about whether carbon offsets do more good than harm, I’m going to have to do more research there.

Still, I could donate to a charity that’s making a real, measurable impact, support candidates who prioritize a climate-first agenda, and/or make additional investments in carbon-neutral living. Any of those actions would multiply the power of my Swedish dishcloths to soak up carbon. 

Are you ready to take the Swedish dishcloth challenge? Identify that one small, easy change you’ve been thinking about and go do it! Then go tell a friend (or twenty) so you can raise your impact (and your vibe). Then be sure to raise your glass to yourself and all the Sustainers committed to creating a cleaner, greener, kinder planet.