The tale of the homely green napkins

They’re not actually green, and they don’t really have to be homely, but this is how I came to be in possession of my homely green napkins.

I’ve made a personal goal to identify all the low-hanging fruit in our lifestyle, trying to identify all the easy things we could do to consume less and create less garbage.

Costco was a big help.

Yes, Costco, the store we love to hate that sells 12-packs of plastic-wrapped bundles that contain 24 independently plastic-wrapped items encased in plastic-coated, non-recycled chipboard.

Some time ago, they stopped selling the big dinner napkins we liked. I know all about those big dinner napkins we liked: They are made from virgin wood pulp using all sorts of nasty chemicals. They were beautifully white due to the bleach used in the process. They’re part of what’s killing this world.

But…I liked those napkins. I kept justifying them till one day, they were gone. And they haven’t returned.

I have always liked the idea of using reusable napkins. We always did when I was a child. In the first half of the twentieth century, everyone used reusable napkins. It would have been weird to suggest replacing such a practical thing with a single-use item.

But here was the problem:

I don’t iron.

My mom irons. She says it’s relaxing. I don’t iron.

That’s partly why we were sticking with the environmentally unfriendly napkins. They came out of the package looking nice.

The other reason was probably more important: it was easy. Until it wasn’t. I kept waiting for Costco to restock, but they didn’t. So thanks to Costco, one more piece of the low-hanging fruit in my earth-unfriendly lifestyle has been chipped off and fixed.

I realize that there are many reasons why this change is not earth-shaking, or even earth-saving.

I went out and did what I knew I should do. I bought 100% cotton, washable napkins. But in my head, I could hear the voices: The cotton industry is horribly polluting. Also, I live in California and we have to conserve water so why not buy paper products that were made in a location with ample water? Finally, what makes you think that little changes like this aren’t just wasted effort?

Those objections are worth considering. There’s always a trade-off. The way I am thinking about it, step by little step, low-hanging fruit get picked off and fixed. My family is generating less garbage. We are consuming less paper. The napkins go into wash loads that I would have done anyway so I’m not using extra water.

Back to the future…

One of the ironies of the choices we are making is that families are going backwards. My napkins are washable, just like my mom’s. Like my grandmother’s.

I am sure, however, that my grandmother’s napkins, like my mom’s, were always beautifully ironed. The concession I have made to modern life is that heck, we’ll just have to live with ugly napkins.

My napkins are wrinkled.

And homely.

And burgundy-colored.

But to me, they’re green.