Approximately 17 trees are required to create 1 ton of paper towels, and the US alone produces roughly 3,000 tons per day. So, thats about 51,000 trees per day, and 18 million per year! 

Most paper towels are made with two harsh chemicals: chlorine and formaldehyde. The chlorine is commonly used to to make the paper towel white in color. The by-products of using Chlorine for bleaching are toxins such as dioxin and furans, which are known to be dangerous to the human body. Then there is Formaldehyde which is used “to improve the wet-strength and other “valued” characteristics of paper and paper products”.  Formaldehyde is also a known carcinogen. 

Once you use a paper towel to clean up a mess or spill, almost every time the paper towel goes straight to the garbage after. They're hardly durable or absorbent enough to rinse, wring, and reuse. 

Let's be honest, paper towels are not very soft. For those of you who use paper towels to dry your face- you have the right idea, however, they're just not gentle enough on your skin. The rough texture and general stiffness, paired with the chlorine used to dye the paper towel white, is simply too harsh to use on your face.

Paper towels are not nearly absorbent or durable enough for cleaning up spills and messes-  and thats why you end up unraveling a quarter of the roll. Many people use rags or sponges in its place. However, rags and sponges are excellent breeding grounds for bacteria, which contradicts cleaning in the first place!