For years, nay decades, I’ve been wondering which was more environmentally friendly, paper towels or hand driers. I believe I first became aware of the modern day moral conundrum when I was in a bathroom that had both, and both had signs indicating that they were the obvious alternative.
Slate’s Lantern has the answer. Blow Dryers… maybe.
Apparently Salon did this a while back, as did Excel, makers of the very effective, but insanely loud Xcelerator (”Feel the Power”). (I thought I had a post for years ago describing my first experience with one in the SIU Student Center, and how I could watch my skin billow under its jets exhaust, but alas, I can’t find it.)
Calculating the environmental impact is difficult given the variance in the number of towels used and the duration of the blowing, the efficiency of the blower, and the along with the source of the electricity. The environmental impact of the towels comes from transporting and manufacturing them, since none get recycled, and deforestation is a nonissue due to them coming from industrial tree farms. Basically, using two paper towels is about the same as one blast from an old dryer. If a new dryer is used, then the dryer wins hands down (just hopefully not your pants).