I came across a (not so) curious fact the
other day.
A cotton handkerchief can be washed 520
times – (apparently, but who is counting?) - and needs about 165 litres (about
44 gallons) of water to manufacture. Think of it – cotton requires a lot of
water to grow, then once picked it must be processed into threads, dyed, then
woven into cotton material (using water, chemicals and energy). But, and it is
a big but, a handkerchief may be washed and re-used many, many times
(apparently – as mentioned – 520 times).
Whereas, apparently, 1 paper tissue (one
tissue) requires about 2.2.litres - (just short of 1 gallon) of water to
manufacture. Think of it – trees chopped down (energy); timber pulped (energy
and water); pulp needing to be bleached (chemicals and water); bleached pulp
then processed into tissue paper. Every
stage of the process requires water, chemicals and energy.
I am aware of the convenience of paper tissues
(for various purposes), I’ve used them for years, but they just add to the land-fill
problem.
Just look at the maths – 75 tissues
(165/2.2) = 1 hanky. Multiply that by 520 and the figure arrived at is 39000
tissues needed to equal the life of one hanky. And that is a lot of water and a
lot of trees. I know, I know, that water is needed to wash (520 times) the
afore mentioned handkerchief – but it will be washed together with other
items. Then there are the chemicals used and various forms of energy required
during manufacture. Then there is the air pollution – for both. But even so I
think there is no contest.
I still have quite a few handkerchiefs at
the back of my socks (sorry “sox” for those readers in the US of A!!).
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