Comments on: AskPablo: Electric Hand Dryer or Paper Towel?

By: James

James — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:24:20 +0000

What if you have cancer or are an old bald guy. Studies show that old bald guys dont wash their hands with soap. lols that isnt a real study.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:58:40 +0000

Paper production actually helps the environment. Most all of the trees currently used for production of paper are in highly monitored and cycled fields. In these fields far more trees are planted than harvested, and therefore are using up far more c02 than if we simply stopped using paper. Watch Penn and Teller’s BS on the subject.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:37:33 +0000

Another site has a bunch of maths regarding this also and comes to the opposite conclusion. I wonder how and I agree with one of your posters that in our office at least the towels are recycled and from managed sources.
But the real thing is, as I was informed today, is that most hand driers re-circulate the air from inside the room and do not have a feed from outside. Now considering that you are in a toilet you are having floating “matter” high pressured onto your hands with a nice warming effect to activate the bacteria.
Do you still want to use the electric hand drier >

By: Kady

Kady — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:08:48 +0000

Dear Pablo,
I am writing a proposal to my high school asking to remove papertowel dispensers from the restrooms. Does this make sense?
Sincerely,
Kady H.
P.S. does anyone else have any suggestions??

By: Ed Sallia

Ed Sallia — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:00:16 +0000

Pablo,
Our private school is trying to decide (as a Green School) whether it makes sense to install the electric hand dryers and your information is very helpful. It is difficult to gather all the facts and crunch the numbers with so many variables. Some facts are obvious such as the cost of paper towels, can liners for disposal, disposal costs and custodial costs. Others challenge the mind such as the costs of manufacturing and transporting towels, CO2 sequestering, tree harvesting and replacement, etc.
I think at some point you just have to make a decision based on what lessons we want to impart to our students about stewardship of the planet and good resource management.
Thanks for the information. It is appreciated.
Ed Sallia
Catlin Gabel School

By: Green Office

Green Office — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:49:00 +0000

I just wrote a book that includes a section on this exact topic, though it doesn’t go as deep into the techie details as you do.
The way I look at it…whether you use the drier or the paper towels, I think the most important thing is to use less of it.
Shake your hands to rid yourself of excess water first. Then, if you’re using the drier, only hit that button once. If you’re using the towel, take only one.
And if you’re not entirely dry by the time you’re done, deal with it. The air will dry you in moments anyway.
Great post, Pablo.
(Oh, and if you’d like to be interviewed as part of my green office book (http://www.GreenOfficeSecrets.com), write me. You’ve got my email address.
-Mark Gardner
Green Office Secrets

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:30:40 +0000

From the Owner’s point of view, the electric hand dryer wins because of reduced costs for janitorial staff which would negate any power savings. Also, he saves the cost of plastic bag liners in the waste cans. You also have to figure the transportation costs of the paper towels (gas, oil, tires, roads, etc, etc) of the trees to the paper plant, from the paper plant to the paper towel factory, to the warehouse, to the distributor, and finally to the user — and then the transportation cost of the dirty towels to the land fill. Eventually, the electricity may come from wind turbines or solar panels. Dyson (the vacuum cleaner guru) is now selling an “air knife” hand dryer that “blows” the water off your hands with a high pressure air stream, so a heating element is not needed – and less power is consumed.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:12:45 +0000

Pablo, I think you are missing some facts. Most paper comes from trees that are replanted (i.e., farming), so each tree harvested is replaced. Similarly, natural forests generally grow at about an equal rate to their decomposition. In both cases, this is carbon neutral, unless you are clear-cutting or slash and burn forests and replacing them with other uses (e.g., urban spawl, farms instead of rainforest).
When you harvest wood for long term use (e.g., treat the wood and build a house), it will last for many years before decomposing, so you have, by delaying decomposition, sequestered the carbon.
That’s not to say that paper towels are great. Like any disposable, not recycled, product, they are energy intensive and wastefull, transported from afar, etc. I’m sure those factors would bring paper towels cost higher than hand driers, even w/o the wood sequestration issue. Therefore, probably, hand driers are better.
Think of it this way: every dollar you spend has greenhouse gas emissions related to it.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:32:27 +0000

Just use your hair, it make you look better throughout the day too.

By: less

less — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:03:19 +0000

Hmm, I sort of agree with Anonymous. But if I had to pick, I’d say Paper Towels. I had to do an esay on Paper towel vs. Electric hand dryer.

By: mike

mike — Fri, 25 May 2007 03:08:46 +0000

pablo, if i was going to be in your place i will chose the hand dryer machine. so good

By: Janis Mara

Janis Mara — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:52:30 +0000

Hahaha! I love this thread! It’s like the “paper vs. plastic” debate. It’s way cool that you brought this up. My thought: Let’s do like we do for grocery shopping and bring our own. People used to carry cloth handkerhiefs all the time, yes? Maybe it’s time to bring back the tradition! (Wiping hands on pants? Puh-LEEZE!)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 22:41:40 +0000

Uh, how about wiping your hands on your pants and skipping the whole mess? Evaporation = a renewable resource.

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 09:57:46 +0000

I’ve always wondered about that!! Of course there are some factors missing: Transportation costs of the paper products, downstream waste water treatment from pulp processing, etc.
But I don’t use my pant leg – I use my pockets.