Megan
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Day 16-Greenest
To whom it may concern,
At the U of I, I am always upset with the amount of paper towels that are used daily in the
bathrooms. Seeing the garbage overflowed with these paper napkins makes me think about how much
we as a campus are supplying to landfills. All in all, it’s a matter of convenience. People would rather use
the napkin to dry their hands quickly, and then dispose of the napkin as their walking out of the
bathroom. The hand-dryer is of course there as options as well, but people think it’s tedious to wait for
their hands to be dried.
My idea/proposal is to eliminate the waste from bathroom paper hand napkins! If we got rid of
these napkins, which have more of an environmental effect than the dryers do, then we’d be cutting
back on waste by a considerable amount. It’s an exciting, but also scary idea of implementing such a
huge idea, but I am definitely up for the challenge!
The Mail Online has encouraged readers to "ditch the hand dryers", as "paper towels are more
hygienic". The debate on the relative merits of paper towels versus hot air dryers may appear trivial, but
the issue can be a matter of life and death. The Mail reports on a review of 12 studies looking at how
hygienic different hand drying techniques are. To borrow a pun from the Mail, it looks like paper towels
win "hands down". The review found the advantages of paper towels include that they dry the hands
more quickly, remove more bacteria and are less likely to lead to cross-contamination. Unfortunately,
we usually don't have much choice about the type of drying method we use in public or workplace
bathrooms, but we can change this at the U of I.
In an era of increasing awareness of the environmental challenges that face our world, eco-conscious
business owners are keen to find effective ways of reducing their environmental impact. For many
however, the desire to reduce their carbon emissions goes hand in hand with the need to save money
wherever possible. Energy efficient technology offers a solution to these problems by reducing
electricity costs while also reducing carbon emissions produced, making them more environmentally
friendly to use.
For those businesses for which it is necessary to provide public or worker washrooms, such as
restaurants, offices, shopping centers, pubs, etc., the practice of hand drying can be a source of carbon
emissions and energy costs. Businesses are faced with the dilemma of whether it is more
environmentally friendly and cost effective to provide paper towels or hand dryers as means for people
Megan
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Day 16-Greenest
to dry their hands with each option having its own advantages and disadvantages. Until recently, it has
been somewhat of a close comparison between the two.
Conventional hand dryers had inefficient motors and insufficient energy-heating elements that
meant they took longer to dry your hands and so used more energy in the process, producing a greater
amount of carbon emissions. It seemed then that the use of paper towels was a much more eco-friendly
option but not by much.
Though the use of paper towels does not require electricity, their production process can
unfortunately contribute to deforestation whilst the methods of their manufacture and transportation
also produce carbon emissions. Used paper towels also ultimately need to be disposed of, with a landfill
being the usual but unsustainable method.
Fortunately, the latest technologically innovative hand dryers are now significantly more
powerful and energy efficient than their older predecessors making them a far more eco-friendly and
economical option. Using high speed motors to produce high velocity airflow, the new generation of
hand dryers uses 80% less energy and offer a more rapid dry time of 8-10 seconds in comparison to the
typical 30-45 seconds required by conventional models. Furthermore, The Massachusetts Institute of
Technology conducted a study in 2011 that revealed that new hand dryer models produced 70% less
carbon dioxide emissions that that of older models and the use of paper towels.
By using these latest hand dryers in place of paper towels, businesses could not only reduce
their environmental impact through lower carbon emissions, but also benefit from a substantial cost
saving of up to 95% too by eliminating the financial costs that arise from the purchase, maintenance and
disposal of paper towels. Energy efficient hand dryers offer greater long term benefits over that of paper
towels or older models of hand dryers in both financial and environmental aspects, helping to save the
business money and importantly providing a greener alternative for a more sustainable future.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Megan Anne Glowacz
Megan
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Day 16-Greenest
Screen Shot of the letter I sent!