Fold, Wash, Repeat: Linking Reasons for Cloth Napkins

Why Our Family Should Switch to Cloth Napkins

1Every night at dinner, my family grabs a stack of paper napkins. We wipe our hands once, crumple the napkins into balls, and toss them in the trash. I think our family should switch to cloth napkins that we can wash and use again.

2My first reason is that cloth napkins would make less trash. A paper napkin can be used only one time. For instance, last week I counted the paper napkins in our kitchen trash can, and there were more than forty of them! Cloth napkins go into the laundry basket instead of the trash, so the same ones can be used for years.

3In addition, cloth napkins work better for messy meals. My little brother Oskar loves spaghetti with tomato sauce, and a thin paper napkin tears as soon as he wipes his chin. A cloth napkin is thicker and softer than a paper one. It can be spread across a lap in order to catch drips before they land on clothes.

4My last reason is that cloth napkins could make dinner feel special. My grandmother keeps a box of fabric scraps in her closet. In order to make our own set, we could cut the fabric into squares and sew the edges on a Saturday afternoon. Each person could choose a different pattern, so everyone would know which napkin belongs to them.

5Some people might say that washing napkins is extra work. However, a few small napkins hardly take up any room in a load of laundry. For all of these reasons, I believe cloth napkins would be a smart choice for our family table.