In this day and age, disposables (serviettes, plastic cups, paper wrapper, tissue paper, kitchen towels, cotton wool pads, etc) have become so ingrained in our lives that many people thought I was mad to consider persuading people to move away from disposables.
Nearly four years later, I have news for you: switching to reusables / washables has saved us and our customers loads of money. So, not only are we doing our bit for the fragile environment we now live in, we are also saving precious pennies.
And as they say, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
Take Table Napkins, for example. Yes, we easily went through – just the three of us – at least one roll of paper kitchen towels in a week when we used them as serviettes.
Taking the cheap recycled ones to average about 50 pence a roll, in 52 weeks we would have spent about £26. Multiply that by 3.5 years (since we went cloth) to get £91.
That would buy more than 10 packs of Fairtrade Table Napkins* (at £8.50 each). In real life, we rotate the use of four sets of napkins (£34), giving us a saving of £57 during this time alone.
Would these last another 3.5 years? Answer: More than likely.
So approximate amount saved in seven years: £114.
Make-up remover pads / Cosmetic Squares
Perhaps you use make-up? Or know someone who does? I don’t. So please read the following with a large pinch of salt when it comes to the estimates.
Organic cotton wool pads and balls (the disposable kind) are about £1.99 for a pack of 100. Assuming that one needs three (or 4) a day, one goes through one pack of 100 disposables in 33 (or 25) days. In 365 days, one goes through 1,095 (or 1,460) pads. This would be equivalent to 10.95 (or 14.6) packs of 100 disposables.
At £1.99 each, 10.95 (or 14.6) packs are £21.79 (or £29.05) a year. That's £43.58 (or £58.10) in two years. Or £76.27 (or £101.68) in 3.5 years.
The reusable Cosmetic Squares on this site are £15.49 (two packs of ten, including P&P). I think we can safely call this a great saving.
Still not convinced?
A customer wrote recently to say
“These have saved me loads of money - this is my second order! The other bonus is that I don't get bits of cotton wool in my eyes as I inevitably did when using cotton wool pads to remove mascara. They wash very well and all my existing ones are still in perfect condition after at least a year's use. I wash them in the washing machine, in a net bag, and hang them up to dry on the clothes airer with mini pegs. I did 'lose' a few in the early days because I was so used to using cotton wool pads and then throwing them in the bin. I must have done the same with these squares.”
Do you know someone who could benefit from making the switch?
Hankies
When hay fever season starts it was not unusual for me to go through three boxes of paper tissue in a week. Hay fever usually lasts about six weeks for me. In a year it would not be unfair to say we went through (2 boxes per week x 6 weeks of the hay fever season) + another 6 boxes for the rest of the year = 18 boxes.
The recycled paper tissue is about £1.50 a box (dearer if you want balm and all that). The annual paper tissue bill could come to £1.50 x 18 = £27.
The bill for paper tissue in the last 3.5 years alone would be about £94.50. This would buy nearly 7 Refill Packs at £13.99 each. In reality my son and I share three packs (£41.97) between us, meaning that I have saved some £52.50 just by switching. (Husband still has a great big supply of old hankies.)
Will they last another 3.5 years? They look as if they would. So long as my son does not loan them out to friends with nose bleeds, snotty noses and so on and they don’t come back (because mums are not sure what to do with them and some throw them away!).
Approximate savings in seven years: £105.
Cloth Gift Wrapper Bags
I have greatest difficulty with this one: using reusable cloth gift wrapper bags instead of single-use gift wrapping paper that only clutters up your bins (especially at Christmas time). We have a set at home – various sizes and colours – of organic cotton and silk. We keep using the same ones. We don't mind.
Three birthdays a year, one wedding anniversary, Christmas presents for us three and the extended family, birthday presents for our son's classmates, godparents, grandparents, close friends, nieces, nephews, etc. Even if I bought the 20p a piece paper from the lady at the market, that is still a lot of money to spend on some very nice paper that can be used only once.
I can't say I have exactly saved money on this one ... yet. I guess I want to convince myself that I am investing in the future.
If I were to save that 20 pence for the 20 presents (a very low estimate indeed) that I need to wrap, that will save me £4 a year. Except that most gift wrappers are at least 50 pence each. That takes the cost (or saving) up to £10 a year. The Gift Wrapper Bags* are probably going to be usable for another 30 years as they are only used at gift-giving times.) That will be £10 x 30 = £300.
Nearly four years later, I have news for you: switching to reusables / washables has saved us and our customers loads of money. So, not only are we doing our bit for the fragile environment we now live in, we are also saving precious pennies.
And as they say, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
Take Table Napkins, for example. Yes, we easily went through – just the three of us – at least one roll of paper kitchen towels in a week when we used them as serviettes.
Taking the cheap recycled ones to average about 50 pence a roll, in 52 weeks we would have spent about £26. Multiply that by 3.5 years (since we went cloth) to get £91.
That would buy more than 10 packs of Fairtrade Table Napkins* (at £8.50 each). In real life, we rotate the use of four sets of napkins (£34), giving us a saving of £57 during this time alone.
Would these last another 3.5 years? Answer: More than likely.
So approximate amount saved in seven years: £114.
Make-up remover pads / Cosmetic Squares
Perhaps you use make-up? Or know someone who does? I don’t. So please read the following with a large pinch of salt when it comes to the estimates.
Organic cotton wool pads and balls (the disposable kind) are about £1.99 for a pack of 100. Assuming that one needs three (or 4) a day, one goes through one pack of 100 disposables in 33 (or 25) days. In 365 days, one goes through 1,095 (or 1,460) pads. This would be equivalent to 10.95 (or 14.6) packs of 100 disposables.
At £1.99 each, 10.95 (or 14.6) packs are £21.79 (or £29.05) a year. That's £43.58 (or £58.10) in two years. Or £76.27 (or £101.68) in 3.5 years.
The reusable Cosmetic Squares on this site are £15.49 (two packs of ten, including P&P). I think we can safely call this a great saving.
Still not convinced?
A customer wrote recently to say
“These have saved me loads of money - this is my second order! The other bonus is that I don't get bits of cotton wool in my eyes as I inevitably did when using cotton wool pads to remove mascara. They wash very well and all my existing ones are still in perfect condition after at least a year's use. I wash them in the washing machine, in a net bag, and hang them up to dry on the clothes airer with mini pegs. I did 'lose' a few in the early days because I was so used to using cotton wool pads and then throwing them in the bin. I must have done the same with these squares.”
Do you know someone who could benefit from making the switch?
Hankies
When hay fever season starts it was not unusual for me to go through three boxes of paper tissue in a week. Hay fever usually lasts about six weeks for me. In a year it would not be unfair to say we went through (2 boxes per week x 6 weeks of the hay fever season) + another 6 boxes for the rest of the year = 18 boxes.
The recycled paper tissue is about £1.50 a box (dearer if you want balm and all that). The annual paper tissue bill could come to £1.50 x 18 = £27.
The bill for paper tissue in the last 3.5 years alone would be about £94.50. This would buy nearly 7 Refill Packs at £13.99 each. In reality my son and I share three packs (£41.97) between us, meaning that I have saved some £52.50 just by switching. (Husband still has a great big supply of old hankies.)
Will they last another 3.5 years? They look as if they would. So long as my son does not loan them out to friends with nose bleeds, snotty noses and so on and they don’t come back (because mums are not sure what to do with them and some throw them away!).
Approximate savings in seven years: £105.
Cloth Gift Wrapper Bags
Three birthdays a year, one wedding anniversary, Christmas presents for us three and the extended family, birthday presents for our son's classmates, godparents, grandparents, close friends, nieces, nephews, etc. Even if I bought the 20p a piece paper from the lady at the market, that is still a lot of money to spend on some very nice paper that can be used only once.
I can't say I have exactly saved money on this one ... yet. I guess I want to convince myself that I am investing in the future.
If I were to save that 20 pence for the 20 presents (a very low estimate indeed) that I need to wrap, that will save me £4 a year. Except that most gift wrappers are at least 50 pence each. That takes the cost (or saving) up to £10 a year. The Gift Wrapper Bags* are probably going to be usable for another 30 years as they are only used at gift-giving times.) That will be £10 x 30 = £300.
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