Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Toilet Paper and Paper Towel Tubes
Oddly enough, one of the most common green parenting questions that I am asked is centered on those pesky toilet paper and paper towel tubes that accumulate so quickly in the family recycle bin. Sure, you could do a craft with them (there are several craft ideas list below) but that idea may lose its luster after you’ve made your 18th eyeglass case or pencil holder. So here are some great green parenting tips for reducing, reusing, and recycling your old toilet paper and paper towel tubes.
Reduce
Want A Deeper Shade of Green? If you want to be really hardcore, you can reduce your family’s overall use of toilet paper tubes by eliminating the roll altogether. Enter, the family cloth. If you’re not familiar with this concept, here’s a quick primer. You take a couple of clean old rags (old t-shirts and towels are popular choices), cut them into “wipe” size pieces and place them in a basket next to the toilet. On the other side of the toilet, place a clean bucket to hold the used cloths until you are ready to toss them in the wash. It may sound a bit extreme, but it is similar in concept to cloth diapers. And in addition to being very green for the planet, it will save you some green on paper products each month.
Reuse
Give your toilet paper and paper towel tubes a second life by reusing them before or instead of recycling them. Here’s how:
- Donate old toilet paper or paper towel tubes to your local school or library to use as craft projects.
- Use toilet paper tubes as packing material.
- Give them to your pet hamster or bird (or to a friend that has one) to play with.
- Store holiday lights by rolling them around paper towel tubes to prevent tangling.
- Attach 2 or 3 toilet paper and/or paper towel tubes together to make an art organizer that holds pens, paint brushes, markers, etc.
- Do a Craft: Here are some great craft ideas for reusing toilet paper and paper towel tubes:
Toilet Paper Tube Crafts
Gift Box
Puppets
Vase
Napkin Rings
Recycle
Recycle toilet paper and paper towel tubes with your cardboard or paper products. Also, consider buying toilet tissue and paper towels made from recycled paper as these products are most likely to also contain tubes made from recycled paper. For example, Green Forest paper towel and bathroom tissue tubes are 100% recycled, with a 75% post-consumer recycled content.
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I’ve finally found a cardboard recycling station… but these are some great ideas.
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I like the lights idea…but I think my lights are too long!
They also are cool to be taped together and make cool stuff for pet hamsters! haha…
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Pleae keep in mind that toilet paper rolls are among the filthiest items in your bathroom, and are crawling with all types of nasties that transfer from you well-intending hands before you make it to the sink and soap. Please reconsider this otherwise swell idea, for the sake of public health.
Thanks for your comment Victoria…but I think your fears are a little unfounded.
For starters, when you reach for the paper your hands are clean as they haven’t yet come in contact with any waste. In addition, you never actually touch the toilet paper TUBE, just the paper.
However, I’m as concerned about public health as the next guy…so if this is an issue for you, I suggest letting your toilet paper tubes sit out in the sunshine for a few hours before you use them for a craft. This will naturally kill off any nasties.
Ah. I suspect that very few of us are able to wipe clean with just one spin of the roller. Also, keep in mind that just touching the door handle and toilet seat cover can transfer ick. Hopefully, others will wisely scrub their hands before innocently collecting the tubes, much less changing the paper. And, it couldn’t hurt to sanitize the holder regularly.
That aside, your suggestion of leaving the tubes in the sunshine is a good one, could probably apply to many other things too, and is certainly green-friendly.
Cheers,
“Clean Freak”
thank you.. i am reading all of this tonight
i make party poppers out of them. i fill them up with goodies and have the kids go to town decorating them. i close the ends with paper and a little glue. also can wrap a gift in them too
Some people actually use the toliet rolls for growing seedlings or marking freshly planted seeds in the garden. I marked my seeds last year with the rolls by cutting them up into thirds. For some reason, the soil seemed to dry out quicker with the toliet rolls. Go figure.
Indeed a great way to recycle and be creative at the same. You won’t be disappointed by what I have found over the net that is a wonderful and stunning paper crafting provider.
I love these ideas, but must weigh in on the toilet paper tube issue. In my county, in our public schools, they have actually banned the use of them for arts/crafts/projects, etc. for the very reason Victoria so delicately described. Remember, not everyone has clean hands in the bathroom (kids often “miss” when using toilet tissue) even BEFORE they use the toilet. Better idea to stick with paper towel and wrapping paper tubes. Apparently, a study was done on this, and our school board took the findings very seriously. I personally don’t know of the particular study, but have a feeling it can easily be found on the internet.
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I like to use the rolls to hold smaller extension cords. I “fold” them up and the insert them through and into the tubes and I have a simple and tidy way to hold the extension cords without elastics or twist ties!
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