Green Your Pool -- Towels

Pool and beach towels are traditionally made from cotton--a crop that accounts for one quarter of the world's insecticide use. If it's time to replace your old towel, keep it out of the landfill and go for greener options.

Out with the old: Summon your crafty side to give worn out towels new life as dog toys or batting for a baby quilt. Alternatively, donate them to an animal shelter for drying off damp paws and lining kennels.

In with the new: Bath Sheets from Rawganique use organic cotton, while Nandina makes Pool Lounge Towels with fast-growing bamboo, organic cotton, and low-impact dyes in a wind-powered factory.

Do you have ideas for reusing old beach and pool towels? Share them here.

Comments

[Jackson]

Yes, organic cotton and bamboo materials are much better choices for towels and it looks like Nandina makes some nice ones.

If you are interested in custom decorated environmentally-friendly towels (organic cotton & bamboo) for your organization or event, we'd love to help. www.tuxedoranch.com / www.basilbranding.com

[Sonya Berg]

Old towels are invaluable at fund raiser car washes. They can be used to dry off the cars to avoid water spots.

[Karen]

Old towels make great rags to mop the floor with or to use in cleaning instead of paper towels.
When they're dirty, just throw a load of towels and other rags in the wash to reuse time and again.

[julee blake]

PLEASE do NOT use old towels as pet toys. They are too easy for a dog to rip apart and swallow.

[Gloria]

I take all my old towels and cut them down into approximately wash cloth size scraps. I use them instead of paper towels for everything around the house. I have not bought paper towels for years, and the towel scraps are washable and dryable and completely reusable. If they get too yuckky, they can be thrown out.

[Sara, Norfolk, VA]

Don't forget about poor college students who need hand-me-downs. Maybe your neighbor or friend has a child graduating high school or moving out for the first time on their own. They'd surely appreciate it. I remember my first set of towels: one blue w/ bleach spots, one green, three yellow washcloths, a blue floor towel, and a green hand towel. Yes, it was a pieced together ensemble from the thrift store and parents!

[Jen]

Old towels can be cut into strips, braided then stitched into circular rugs for the bathroom.

[Kristen]

Many humane societies use old/worn out towels for kitten & cat cages for comfort. I've even seen old towels used after a cat has gotten out of surgery from being spayed/neutered to warm them up.

[Margie Campaigne]

I like the compassionate use suggestions. I have one I keep in the trunk of my car for odd uses when traveling.

[christine]

Ideas for reusing old towels:
Cut into rectanges and make into totes. Strips can be cut and sewn for handles. All cotton towels - layer and sew for diapers, breast pads for nursing moms, burp pads, refrigerator produce drawer liners....

[Marcia Lambert]

Old towels,washclothes,old clothes can be cut up into small bits and placed in your yard for the birds and backyard animals to use in their nesting. I even put the hair brushed from my dog out for the birds. All this keeps the "new babies"warm. When you clean out your birdhouses you find it all put to use by the birds.

[ehyde222]

Lay them down on the garage floor in winter, in order to sop up melting snow and gravel.

[Ryan]

You can use old beach towels as cleaning rags, just cut accordlinly to the size you need and clean away.

[Evelyn]

Our local homeless shelters beg for towels of any kind. Usually, they actually give them away to the people who use them to shower or just want them. That's where ALL my towels go. I cut up old clothes like t-shirts (dare I say underwear - even socks) to use as cleaning rags like my 86 year old Mother used to do. I need a clothes line next. I'll hide it behind the fence so the neighbors won't complain. Other clothes and things I don't want go to the half-way houses and shelters. We don't have a recycle program here in Macon, but I can take everything down to the place that does recycle. You know it strikes me as a no-brainer that the easiest thing to do is simply use less, buy less and - eat less!! I'm already Vegetarian and grow some of my vegies and get the rest from the farmer's market or buy organic or both.

[Lise Tillman]

I sure wouldn't want to use them as batting for baby quilts if they were grown with pesticides.

[Heather]

Old towels make for easy to wash extra layers under sheets or the mattress pads for toddlers and even on the co-sleeping parents. It started with my leaking breastmilk, then spit up, or worse! Now we've graduated to the accidental pee from a four year old a few times this year.

I got a wool liner for the crib and twin bed... but couldn't handle the price for the king bed. With 3 towels in the target zone, very little gets to the mattress.

[charleei]

I hardly ever buy towels. Rummage sales are great for reusing and recyling. A person does not need to buy many towels. My son and I use the same one all week and just keep them separated.

[Heather]

Oh! I mean under the parent's sheets!

Also, I hate that pesticides are so harmful to the environment and wash ALL fabrics before use.

Unfortunately, we'd have a very small wardrobe (and quite limited in style and selections) if we only had organic items. It's EXTREMELY expensive. We have few fun "green" t-shirts and some of our linens. Transition will be slow since it's not so green to just consume tobe pure organic.

I would hope that a towel so tired to be graduated to hidden duties, would have all the pesticides washed away.

We did buy an all organic cotton and wool mattress since it would never get washed and will get 10 years of straight use by the time my youngest is five and outgrown the toddler bed.

[ivette torres]

I think old towels should be put away in the bathroom for when guest arrive or you need extra towels in the bathroom.

[KEParker]

Old towels, sheets, etc. can be cut into long strips and either knitted, or crocheted, together into scarves, rugs, blankets, etc. They can even be incorporated into quilts.

It's an easy and inexpensive way to reuse these items.

[Anne]

Old towels folded into thirds and then in half make a nice cushion for knees when gardening. I also use them on furniture for my cats to snuggle on and on the dining room table to protect it from newspaper print when someone wants to sit down and read there with their morning coffee. Old hand towels are great for hands and all the little wipe ups when I paint. I imagine there unlimited uses!

[Ruth Busch]

Towels for swimming? Didn't you swim to cool off?
Use that "great yellow towel in the sky" when you get out. Keep your cool.

[Carly]

I keep an old towel in my car so when I take my dog to the dog park(where there is a pond and mud) i can use the towel to dry her off on the way home.