Those of us on the elder side of this millennial generation still remember our father or grandfather carrying a handkerchief.
For their generation this was an important part of both men’s and women’s attire, it was elegant, convenient and even romantic.
As with most of our environmental problems nowadays, the rise of industry and the obsession for profit, pushed the old habits away and they were slowly replaced with what the market offered: new, simpler, one use, disposable solutions.
The truth is that the price for having that “soft paper tissue” to wipe up your tears, nose or butt is way too high. Paper tissue is produced from pulp which is extracted from cutting living trees.
Conservative data indicates that 27,000 trees are wiped out daily from the earth to produce tissue paper and in addition to that, the process also requires massive amounts of water that will be polluted.
This is a very big cost for a piece of paper that is used for 1-3 seconds and that constitutes 20% to 30% of the waste in a household.
Giving up facial paper tissues is not that hard, just remember we already did it before… and we survived.
Handkerchiefs are coming back so you can take on the fun project to create your own or you can purchase them from people working hard to make this world a better place, a long lasting place.
If you are worried about what people will say if they see you using a handkerchief, be proud that you will be a trendsetter, these changes will reach everyone eventually, it’s not a trend, it’s a need.
Try the links below to learn how to make your own:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuX3HWQO3MI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRbxNhBBckE
-Cristina GS
