Madridman,

I'm not for wasting paper. I just don't like hand driers. Yes, I suppose I could press the button a second time and still end up wiping my hands on my pants. I just don't like spending any more time than necessary in public restrooms.
Now, if you really want to talk pure waste of paper, lets talk junk mail or telephone books. Junk mail is my pet peave and makes me sad to think of all the natural resources squandered. At least paper plates serve a function.

Osomajor,

You should have lived in Spain from 1977-1980. In all the restaurants around Plaza Mayor, it was quite customary to throw your napkin, or even food waste on the floor of the restaurant. At night, the proprieters would sweep them into the plaza, and street sweepers would come by and sweep it all up. One late night I walked Plaza Mayor. This is the first time I ever saw rats. Lots and lots of them.

Uh Madridman,

I just noticed that at the header of this webpage, there is an "Ads by Google" box which is advertising paper towel dispensers.
And by the way, are you sure that the water used to clean plates with and the oil which is used to heat the water is less wasteful that paper plates? I personally use my best china when Thanksgiving is celebrated at my house but I can tolerate, if not understand, why people would use paper plates, not plastic.

To get back to the original topic pic (Can't believe I get to say that!!!)
if there is a Trader Joe's in your part of Ohio try there. The company is very strong on recycling; healthy products, etc. etc.

Good for you, Madridman! Passion is good. I believe that Convenience has become a value in our world. It is why folks use plasticware after spending hours and love over a meaningful family meal, that clearly deserves the best china available.

In my libraries we have been recycling newspapers and magazines even when it was not in the ecological agenda. The same goes for books and journals. We always find a home for these.

About toilet tissue... if folks used Bidets they would not have to use so many rolls of toilet tissue per year, saving countless forests, and fewer visits to their proctologists!! However, ask a plummer to install a BidetOmatic The looks you get are not funny, like you are some sort of pervert .

Oh dear, didn't mean to get carried away with this!

Gazpacho:

"You should have lived in Spain from 1977-1980. In all the restaurants around Plaza Mayor, it was quite customary to throw your napkin, or even food waste on the floor of the restaurant. At night, the proprieters would sweep them into the plaza, and street sweepers would come by and sweep it all up. One late night I walked Plaza Mayor. This is the first time I ever saw rats. Lots and lots of them."

OHHHHHHH.....MY.....GAWD!!! Im sorry, but...that's bad! Really...bad!!! I truly hope that those places no longer practice that sort of thing. I would refuse to eat at those places. Man...my head is spinning just thinking about it...the rats, cockroaches, trash, smell, is the food safe to eat...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Sorry Osomajor,

I really don't understand your reaction, or more specifically your last post. If you are being sarcastic, I must point out that you are the one that was against litter. I personally didn't care what the restaurants looked like at the time, and at the time, being hardly in my twenties, I could not care less about eating there. I probably wouldn't care about it today.
My meaning was that they don't do that today, probably because it did encourage so much vermin. This was not a put down about Madrid, but I was trying to provide insight into the customs.

UPDATE: MadridMan found toilet paper containing X% of post-consumer recycled paper at the nearby Weiland\'s Gourmet Market at 3600 Indianola Avenue here in Columbus, Ohio, not far from where I live. Here, I found and bought 3 6-roll packages of the aforementioned Green Forest brands toilet paper for $1.69 each. This is the same place which has THE BEST collection and selection of Spanish wines in Columbus. They must carry at least 30 different bottles from white to red to rosé and sherry too along with cavas. Their selection of Portuguese wines (and others) is excellent too. They have great fresh meats and seafoods (live lobster & fish tanks as well as frozen squid and octopus) counters along with fresh baked breads/baguettes and enough cheese to confused anyone - the French Brie in those little circular containers is only about $3.50! - and they carry Spanish manchego too! (enough praise, already? I love the place)

And get this, I ALSO received a voice mail from Kroger Stores from a manager (or someone in the head office) saying they were working on again getting the Green Forest or other brand of post-consumer recycled paper products and that mine was a good suggestion and blah blah blah. So we'll see if anything happens there.

Saludos, MadridMan

The irony of the google ad for paper towels at the top of this page just kills me!

Anyhow, MadridMan, if you're complaining about so much waste, why not just use cloth kitchen towels? As for the paper plates, using them once or twice a year isn't so bad. If you're really concerned about it, tell the relatives that you'll do all the washing up after dinner if they use regular plates.

In many parts of Spain they clean the streets frequently so litter isn't too much of a problem. The morning after a big fiesta, street cleaners come out and do such a great job of picking up trash and cleaning the streets and sidewalks that the next day you wouldn't know what happened the night before.

I haven't yet seen any ads for paper towels only paper towel dispensers. We assume that those paper towel dispensers are dispensing post consumer recycled paper, don't we? hehehe... I do use cloth kitchen towels in the kitchen and even go so far as using cloth bathroom towels in the bathroom. Go figure! hehehe.. I've done that - done all the cleaning up, that is, but they won't let me do it anymore because I'm so slow. (and thorough)

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Saludos, MadridMan