You might think me insane, but hear me out. I've mentioned it before. Our family has not purchased or used paper towels for nearly three years. Before making this change, I would watch my boys splash their hands with water, consider it a thorough wash job, then rip off half a dozen paper towels, delighting in how fast the roll pirouetted around the holder.

One day we ran out of paper towels, and I didn't feel like going to the store. We had to make do with cloth kitchen towels to dry our hands and clean-up rags to, well...clean up! Guess what happened. We survived!

I didn't buy paper towels on my next shopping trip, and I announced to the family that we were going to try a challenge: one month without paper towels. I got some grief. Fast forward three years later, and it's second nature to the whole family. We don't buy paper towels.

Can you imagine how many trees we've saved? I'll have to give my boys most of the credit, there. Can you imagine how much money we've saved? I'm not one for facts and figures, but I'm guessing enough for a few evenings of family entertainment.

During this busy holiday weekend, I'm caring for quite a few critters. I wash my hands frequently: two to three times per visit, I'd say, depending on when the dog was last bathed or how dirty the litter box is. I can usually find a kitchen towel with which to dry my hands, but when I can't, sometimes I'm forced to use paper towels (not being the type to snoop in drawers).

At one client's home, this is this weekend's paper towel:

I started caring for the pets on Friday afternoon, and at three visits per day... this baby has now been used at least a dozen times to dry my clean hands. When I'm finished with it, I just lay it out flat, like so, and it's all dry and ready to go again on my next visit.

It's the little changes that make a difference.