Sustainable Alternatives to Tissues

The winter months are about to come and there are high chances of getting sick. So, what are you going to use this year? A disposable tissue or a reusable one?

Here I’m going to share some of the sustainable alternatives to disposable tissues!

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Table of Contents

Ask yourself why are you going for the tissue in the first place?

Is the hanky irritate your skin?

Is it easy and less messy to use?

I’ll answer these questions and let’s come up with the solution.

Is the hanky irritate your skin?

I know using the hanky may turn your nose red or irritate your skin because of the constant rubbing. It’s because of the wrong cloth material of the hanky. Just going for the right material would solve this problem. And the answer to that is cotton.

Always go for cotton or any other soft material. Your old cotton t-shirt would do.

Is the tissue easy and less messy to use?

I know it’s easy to just use disposable tissue and throw it away. But think of how much waste you produce by using tissue paper. They are made from trees and by this you’re destroying the wildlife habitat. What if I say, you can go for reusable tissues even if you don’t really want to use the handkerchief. Keep reading to make your own reusable tissues.

Are tissues bad for the environment?

Yes, at least 17 trees will have to be cut down and 20,000 gallons of water is contaminated in order to produce a ton of tissue paper. The consumption of tissue paper worldwide is far more than just one ton daily. (Source)

According to a study, 8.5 million Americans used 8 or more boxes in 2019. Just think about how much trash we’ve created and how many resources are gone waste in order to produce a ton of tissue paper. Also, do you know that 28% of all household waste is paper? So why use tissues when you can use reusable tissues.

Ask yourself, do you really need that? Think about how our ancestors tackled the same situation? Did they use the tissues? Definitely not. Then why do we need them? Most of the time we’re just using the products which we really don’t need.

Do you use tissues from recycled paper?

No, some companies are trying to make the tissues by recycling the paper but some say it may be a little rough when compared to other tissues. And I’d like to see more people produce paper by recycling rather than producing them from the trees. We definitely need paper but not the tissues. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of tissues and I prefer using a hanky.

Sustainable Alternatives to Tissues:

What can I use instead of tissues?

So, what are the sustainable alternatives to tissues? Well, just use a cotton hanky or handkerchief.

If you don’t like to use a hanky due to your sensitive skin, just go for a washcloth or face cloth. In this way, you don’t hurt your skin but you can also reduce the trash to a greater level.

How to make your reusable tissues?

Here’s the answer to it. Take an old cotton fabric and cut them into small pieces preferably into the hanky size. In this way, you don’t need to buy a hanky and they are also a great sustainable alternative to tissues.

If you’re going for the reusable tissues, you can just cut the old cotton fabric smaller than a hankie size and use it as a tissue. Have these small reusable tissues in bulk wherever you go. Once you’ve used one reusable tissue, put them in an old plastic bag. In this way, you’re repurposing the old plastic bag (if you have one) instead of throwing it into the landfills. You can also use a wet bag or you can even repurpose your old plastic containers for taking the used reusable tissues to the laundry. It’s a win-win!

So these are some of the sustainable alternatives to tissues.

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