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Hi Bill, et al.,-
We've been wondering, too. I
read the "treehugger" article, and I agree with their conclusion.
We're on wind power, so it's a no-brainer for us. Also, the study had
an average of a "30 second" drying time; I've never had the patience,
if I use them at all, to stand at a drier for 30 seconds. We thought
the average time is probably closer to 10 seconds.
Again, I'm glad you brought this up; we've all got bathroom facilities
in our venues, with thousands of people using them each year, the
environmental impact is not trivial.
Cheers -
Carlyn
Carlyn S. Buckler, Ph.D.
Paleontological Research Institution
Museum of the Earth
1259 Trumansburg Road, Ithaca, NY 14850
Ph: (607) 273-6623 ext. 25
[log in to unmask]
www.MuseumoftheEarth.org
InformalEarthScience.org
--- On Thu, 8/14/08, Watson, Bill <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Watson, Bill <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: green drying solutions?
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thursday, August 14, 2008, 11:43 AM
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
Hi, Everyone -
This is totally a question of personal curiosity - no institutional
decisions hang in the balance, but the question might be relevant for
some museum/science center somewhere...
Have you ever noticed that electric hand dryers in public restrooms
usually include a label that says that the hand dryer is "better for the
environment" than paper towels? The justification on the ones I use most
frequently says that they "save trees from being used for paper
towels".
From an environmental perspective, though, I've been wondering if we're
really doing ourselves any favors given the amount of electricity we're
probably using to warm the heating elements of the hand dryers. (If I
understand correctly, appliances with heating elements typically use
more electricity than other appliances.) While we may be "saving
trees",
what is the environmental cost of the (presumed fossil fuel-generated)
energy we use to warm the dryers? Does it outweigh the costs of
producing paper towels, in both trees and fossil fuel use? What about
the costs of using paper towels made from recycled materials?
Has anybody looked into this before? Can anyone recommend an
organization, website, article, or book that might lead me to more
information?
Thanks,
Bill
Bill Watson
Chief of Onsite Learning
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
(202) 633-1127
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