Paper Napkins? Well...

I've been observing an increased use of paper napkins to wipe hands in eateries. This doesn't make sense to me from multiple angles:

1) Washing hands is actually more hygienic. If we use a paper napkin we don't really clean our hands. Sure we get rid of the bigger chunks of whatever we ate but we only rub the oil/gravy mixed with our saliva deeper into our skin. And we carry this around as we touch a million other things and shake hands with everyone around us.

2) All those paper napkin packets require many many many trees to be cut. It makes no sense to cut trees just to wipe hands 😏. Reduced tree cover, to me, is one of the biggest reasons behind many an environmental problem we face today.

3) And when we throw that paper napkin, we create garbage that has to then be dealt with. This point becomes even more serious when we use paper napkins / tissue paper to wipe our noses / backsides. We throw tissues with our snot / excreta stuck to them and that / excreta snot carries germs and ... One's snot / shit (and snotty / shitty opinions) are best kept to oneself 😁.

Many cultures, including mine, have traditionally used a mug of water to clean backsides after answering the call of nature - and then just washing hands with soap and water! I think that's more hygienic as well as environment friendly.

And if you have a cold: just use a handkerchief and wash it at the end of the day. If you have a really bad cold, carry 2-3 handkerchiefs with you. But using tissues makes no sense from any view point.

And no, we don't really end up saving water if we use paper napkins / tissues 😊. All those trees that get cut to make them consume lots of water when growing up. So growing trees and then cutting them to make paper napkins is not an effective water saving strategy 😁.

Small things matter. It all adds up. I think switching from paper napkins and tissues to using running water will go a long way in keeping ourselves as well as our surroundings cleaner.