Hand Drier Vs Paper Towels

[sanctus]

Hi all,

I always wondered what has a bigger environmental impact: using a electrically powered hand dryer (conventional or the cool ones like these dyson ones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Airblade) or paper towels (recycled or not)? The former rely on energy and if you are not in Costa Rica then it is not green energy, the latter is use and throw away...

[OceanBreeze]

I don't know about the environmental impact but I have always found paper towels better for drying my face. :fool:

[Sammy]

Here's some food for thought concerning the great dryer vs hand towels debate!

I think generally speaking, it's pretty hard to track either as there are so many advancements being made to both across the board.

[LaurieAG]

Hand towels are quicker and more hygienic while it's very difficult to dry hands in much less than 10 seconds without harming the skin. 

 

The best hand towel devices are the ones with the hand sensor that dispenses a fixed amount of paper towel at a time. 

 

If you have both air systems and paper systems you will have the best hygienic solution with environmental benefits due to reduced paper usage compared with a paper only system.

 

An air only system reduces the environmental impact while reducing the overall hygienic effectiveness of the system as some people will not use air systems.

[exchemist]

 

Hand towels are quicker and more hygienic while it's very difficult to dry hands in much less than 10 seconds without harming the skin. 

 

The best hand towel devices are the ones with the hand sensor that dispenses a fixed amount of paper towel at a time. 

 

If you have both air systems and paper systems you will have the best hygienic solution with environmental benefits due to reduced paper usage compared with a paper only system.

 

An air only system reduces the environmental impact while reducing the overall hygienic effectiveness of the system as some people will not use air systems.

 

I would simply add that in my experience, the sensors in hot air dryers are unreliable. It can be frustrating waving one's hands trying to get the bloody thing to switch on - and stay on. Consequently I much prefer paper towels.

[CraigD]

I always wondered what has a bigger environmental impact: using a electrically powered hand dryer (conventional or the cool ones like these dyson ones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Airblade) or paper towels (recycled or not)? The former rely on energy and if you are not in Costa Rica then it is not green energy, the latter is use and throw away...

As your mention of Costa Rica hints (I think there are some other major green/renewable energy self-sufficient places), the answer depends a lot on how you’re getting your electricity.

 

If you’re in a place where its coming from a green source like hydroelectric, and you have excess capacity (you’ve got to let water out over a spillway because there’s more than your generators need), then as long as your electric driers last a long time, or the parts of them that don’t are small and easily replaced, then they have the least environmental impact. Paper towels, recycled or not, contribute to the waste stream, and like all disposables, should be avoided. According to the link Sammy gave in this post, in most circumstances, the impact of electric driers vs disposable towels is about equal, so if you can get your electricity nearly impact free, it becomes the clear winner.

 

Hand towels are quicker and more hygienic ...

If you’re washing your hands correctly, most of the dirt and germs are being loosened by soap, water, and your technique, then rinsed away in the flowing rinse water. How you dry your hands, assuming your towel or air jet isn’t contaminated, doesn’t much matter.

 

… while it's very difficult to dry hands in much less than 10 seconds without harming the skin.

Press, don’t rub! :) Though an occasional good exfoliation is healthy.

 

Stepping back from the question, it’s worth questioning if you need to wash your hands as often as you think. If you’re in a clinical setting (eg: a hospital) with people with weak immune systems in one room and people with horrible pathogens in another, methodical handwashing is critical. Otherwise, you might be better off letting them get dirty and germy – according to the hygiene hypothesis, maybe a lot better off.

 

Following related reasoning, you should be conscientious about the soap you use, and avoid ones with antibacterial chemicals, like Triclosan. That stuff’ll give you asthma and promote super-germs that may be the death of us all!

[fahrquad]

I prefer paper towels.  I see far too many men use the bathroom and walk out without washing their hands, and I use the paper towel that I just dried my hands with to open the door.

 

(spelling error)(too, not to)

Edited December 24, 2016 by fahrquad

[fahrquad]

As far as which has the least impact on the environment, it has to be the blow dryer.  Yes, the blow dryer uses electricity, which usually involves fossil fuels, but even recycled paper requires processing from raw stock into finished product, which is very energy intensive.  It also requires quite a bit of water.  The International Paper plant in Charleston, SC on the Cooper River is always emitting smoke and steam.  Although they use mostly wood chips to make paper, there is some recycled content.  The chips are processed into wood pulp that is bleached and rolled and dried, and you can smell the stench for miles around.  I used to have to drive by that place 2-3 times a week, and would roll up the windows and turn the AC on recirculate to keep the odor out of the car.

Edited December 24, 2016 by fahrquad

[fahrquad]

I should add that SC has many hydroelectric stations and a few nuclear plants including the one 30 miles to my west.  About a year ago I went to do inspections at one of the two electrical generation facility in this state that uses wood chips to generate electricity.  We have an abundance of trees and a robust forest products industry, so most of what is used as fuel comes from by-products.  When you think about it, this operation is relatively carbon neutral.  They burn wood from trees and produce carbon dioxide that the trees use to grow.  In addition, it is a form of solar energy in as much as the trees use the sun's energy to grow.

[fahrquad]

It appears that SC is the top producer of forest products in the nation, and timber is the state's biggest agricultural product.  According to the link posted:

• Timber is South Carolina’s largest cash crop, with an annual delivered value of over $876 million.
• Wood products are the 3rd largest manufacturing industry in the state, employing over 32,000 residents and contributing $8.5 billion annually to our economy.
• Forested timberlands occupy approximately two-thirds (12.3 million acres) of South Carolina’s land area.
• In the 2000-01 planting season, tree seedlings were planted on 145,251 acres in South Carolina.
• Approximately 48 percent of South Carolina’s forests is pine, 52 percent is hardwood.
• Pine plantations account for nearly 25 percent of SC timberland.
• Over 300,000 acres were regenerated annually between 1993-2000.
• There are over 88,000 forest land owners.
• South Carolina ranks 12th in trees planted in the USA in 1998.
• South Carolinians planted some 90 million tree seedlings in 2000-01.
• Forest products are grown and processed in every county.
• Approximately 78 million seedlings were produced by forest tree nurseries in South Carolina in 2000.

https://www.state.sc.us/forest/refmgt.htm

[fahrquad]

 

Hand towels are quicker and more hygienic while it's very difficult to dry hands in much less than 10 seconds without harming the skin. 

 

The best hand towel devices are the ones with the hand sensor that dispenses a fixed amount of paper towel at a time. 

 

If you have both air systems and paper systems you will have the best hygienic solution with environmental benefits due to reduced paper usage compared with a paper only system.

 

An air only system reduces the environmental impact while reducing the overall hygienic effectiveness of the system as some people will not use air systems.

 

I find the automatic paper towel dispensers annoying.  It generally takes 3 passes to get enough paper towel to dry your hands.  When there a two dispensers side by side, I will hit one, then the other, then back to the first to get enough.

[fahrquad]

I am not certain, but I think we have no more coal-fired power plants in SC. Those that use fossil fuels have transitioned to using natural gas (to the best of my knowledge).

[fahrquad]

I personally have planted and/or nurtured somewhere between 75 and 100 trees, all of which I consider to be my babies.  I stop in every few months at my previous houses to see how they are doing and see how the new owners are treating them.  I was disappointed to see that the guy I sold my first house to (1986-2003) cut down the oak tree in the front yard that did such a good job of shading the front of the house in the summer (keeping the cooling bills down).  It was about 38 inches DBH when it was killed, and roughly 40 years old.  It's roots were getting into the terra-cotta sewer line when I had the house and had to call in Roto-Rooter to clear the roots out of the joints. I warned the buyer that he would eventually need to replace the line from the house to the sewer tap in the street about 40 feet away with PVC eventually.  Dunno know if he did it, or just killed the tree.  In my experience, it would have been cheaper and easier to run the new, relatively shallow, sewer line than having the tree removed.

[fahrquad]

"About a year ago I went to do inspections at one of the two electrical generation facility in this state that uses wood chips to generate electricity."  

In the interest of accuracy (and full disclosure) I should add that all I went to look at was the set-up and connection of a State factory inspected three section modular office building, but I asked a lot of questions on the technical details about the operation while I was there.  The project was in Fairfield county and under their jurisdiction, but they couldn't wait a month for the county to come out, so they hired us as a 3rd party inspector.

[Speedjohn]

Paper towel is preferable as driers consumes energy(electricity).Paper towel is effective, and environmentally friendly ,the environmental impact of hand drying by paper towel depends on  what type of paper towel we are using.

[sanctus]

Speedjohn, but if recycled, that also uses energy? And if new then you have the impact of cutting trees and power for its production.