Let me explain what I mean. Have you ever visited a facility, let’s say a restaurant, and after washing your washing your hands, you grab a paper towel from the dispenser? As soon as your wet hands touch the paper towel, it disintegrates like cotton candy does in your mouth. Then what do you do? You grab about four more towels to finish the job correctly.

So how do you determine the value of these towels? You would divide the cost per roll by the number of towels per roll divided by the number of towels required to do the job. If you are using a towel that is absorbent and strong, chances are that fewer towels will used.

Other factors to figure into the value of what you’re buying are, 1- will it decrease the frequency of trash runs? 2- Will it decrease the frequency of replenishment?

Now let’s go a step further. If the cheap (bad value) towels are requiring four times more consumption, what is the impact on the natural resources being used to produce these towels? And what is the impact on the roads because the garbage trucks are picking up more waste? What about the land fill?

Another comparison to make would be between a good value in paper towels and the use of electric hand dryers. Let’s take a vote. Who likes to use electric hand dryers? No, really, who really likes to use an electric hand dryer? And who believes that they actually save money on supplies? Also, do they help conserve energy and help save the environment? They probably help to reduce waste, when you consider only the facility in which they are used, and not the overall scheme of things. This is due in part, because many people won’t wash their hands when they realize the only way to dry their hands is with a hand dryer. But what happens then? They grab the door knob with their germy hand and leave. Then the poor sucker who follows them out grabs the door knob and in essence has just touched everything that the previous person has touched. Is that gross or what?

Now let’s say that person has the flu or a cold. Now what? Everybody who touches that door knob for the next several hours picks up the virus, and then some will get sick. Now look at the amount of natural resources being used. Ten people with a head cold. How much facial tissue will be used? How many hours of work will these people lose?

I personally like to use a hands free towel dispenser with a good absorbent towel, and when I leave that room, I grab the door knob using the towel that I used for my hands and then throw it away. And I don’t get sick often, due in part to this practice.

So, if you are a purchaser for janitorial supplies, keep these things in mind. Do your part to make this world a better place. You didn’t know that you could actually change the world with paper towels, did you?        8<)

Greg Whitehead, editor of Janitorial Closet, online wholesale janitorial and office supplies.