Rolled up inside every package of paper towel is a dirty back-story: The paper industry is one of the world's worst polluters, keeping company with chemical and steel manufacturing. And very little paper towel is recycled, of course. Instead, it contributes to the 40 percent of landfill content from paper.

Because wood pulp is the basis for paper, its production has an impact on deforestation, which adds to global warming. And the manufacturing of paper towel, in addition to bearing a heavy environmental footprint, involves bleaching with chlorine-based chemicals, which can lead to the release of toxic emissions, causing further damage.

Cleaning cloths can pinch-hit for virtually any job that paper towels can handle. They're washable, and you can use them again and again. Save your most tattered and faded dishtowels and other soft cloths to use for the dirtiest jobs, giving them one last shot at service before discarding them.

If you decide that your home can't function without paper towels, you're in good company. Some steps do help lessen the environmental impact:

• Seek products with the highest percentage of post-consumer waste (PCW). This figure indicates the amount of material that came from paper used and recycled by consumers - mail-order catalogs and magazines you're finished with or the used copy paper from your office, for example. Most recycled-content products include some recycled content from manufacturing waste, referred to as preconsumer waste. For example, Seventh Generation paper towels use 80-percent PCW and 20-percent preconsumer.

• Choose unbleached paper towels. They're identified by the label PCF (processed chlorine free) to ensure that no chlorine derivatives were used in the processing of the paper.

• Select products free of dyes and fragrances. Why add chemicals (and potential irritants) when you're working to go green?

• Buy the largest quantity with the least amount of packaging. Double rolls make more sense than single rolls.

An Absorbing Issue: Sponges

An ideal ally for soaking up wet messes, sponges suck up water so that you can transfer it into the sink with a good squeeze. Once upon a time, the sponges used for cleaning were from the amorphous, faceless sea creatures that float under the ocean's surface like deflating beach toys. Today, the articles you buy in hardware and home stores are rarely made from real sponge, but rather from some sort of polymer with petroleum origins. The microfiber sponges, a relatively new novelty, are likewise synthetic-based.

Reduce the elbow grease and cleaning solution required by choosing sponges with a "scrubbing" side and sponge mops with an abrasive strip - great for scraping away stubborn dried-on food.

The Dark Side of Sponges

Whether plastic- or plant-based, all sponges pose a similar risk: They're germ carriers. Talk about a natural breeding ground: All those little holes and dark crevices are the perfect spot for germs to hide and thrive. When you use a dirty sponge to clean a surface, chances are you're leaving behind a trail of bacteria even as you're picking up the mess.

Some companies have countered the sponge's dirty reputation by soaking their products with antibacterial agents, typically the ingredient triclosan Avoid this ingredient! Triclosan has not been proven to be any more effective than soap and warm water in killing germs.  ....read more