Not long ago a friend of mine said "I have to clean out the bins of dishtowels I have. I have so many and nowhere to store them."
I had to stop and think about that comment as it made no sense to me. I weave lots of dishtowels. I love weaving them because they are blank canvases that I get to design out of cotton and linen. Some of them are beautiful, some, well, not so much.
Most of the towels in my kitchen are the towels that didn't pass my beautiful test or might have been experiments of some kind.
The picture above is of the towels in my kitchen drawer. Two more hang around for daily use.
I only own 8 towels and I use them every day. Many of these towels are over 8 years old. I have some that are older but have been relegated to the rag bin because they are too stained.
My friend who I mentioned above once told me she couldn't afford one of my towels. The same friend who has to clean out her bin of $5.00-$8.00 a piece towels. Using basic math and making an assumption about the size of her bin, my guess is she has quite an investment of what is now throwaway or donation towels.
Another assumption I will make is the towels didn't "work".
Towels are supposed to absorb. And yes, we want them to be pretty and match or compliment our decor. As a 'form over function' kind of person, I want both. As a weaver, I know that a handwoven towel is far superior to anything I can buy in a box store.
We live in a throw away culture and we are seeing the affects that lifestyle has on our lives and our environment.
One simple way to change that is to change how we look at the goods we use everyday.
A single towel that lasts 10 years is a far better investment at $28-$45 than a bin of crappy $5.00 - $8.00 towels. Those towels eventually cost more money from your pocket, clutter the environment, create more work as we have to clean them out of our closets, and wreak havoc in second hand stores because they are crumpled and used looking and no one wants them. And then they end up in a landfill.
I hear the argument "But, but, handwoven towels don't have cute leprechaun's for St. Patty's Day! And what about all the cute wine quotes?" Fine, buy one wine quote towel and when you realize all it's good for is the quote, don't buy another one. Just write down the quote. And leprechaun's? Really?
Wouldn't it be nice to eventually fill our homes with items made from love, quality materials, and small pieces of artwork that last for many years?
I think so and I know I'm not the only one.