Littleleaf (organic cotton hankie packs)
LittleLeaf Organic makes nice organic cotton hankies (also sold in a set of 9). Made with solar power, and sold in recycled cardboard boxes. These hankies are sold in a variety of cute designs including bicycles, turtles and gardening. You can also buy sets of three hankies in a box (including a festive Christmas edition with trees).
The family packs contain 9 hankies and make a great affordable zero waste gift. Each one has a discreet LittleLeaf organic logo in the corner.
You can also use them to wipe your face in hot weather or mop up little spills, then just throw them in the wash (where due to natural materials, they won’t release microplastics in the machine). They’re even made in a solar-powered factory!
Organic cotton is not just kinder to the earth and water, but also to farmers, who can farm cotton in hot temperatures, without having to wear facial masks or protective clothing (and massively reduces both their risk of cancer – and debt due to buying expensive pesticides from abroad).
And as organic cotton has not been bleached or treated with chemicals, the fibres are stronger. Which means this little pack of tissues should last you much longer, than conventional ones.
How to Safely Blow Your Nose
Here is advice from those who know (doctors etc)!
Apparently most of us don’t blow our hooters properly, and this can lead to not just making us feel more uncomfortable with a cold, but can make ears pop, rupture blood vessels and even force air into the middle ear (not good).
So next time you come down with the sniffles:
- Place one finger against your nostril, and apply pressure.
- Take a breath, then gently blow the other nostril into a tissue.
- Do the same on the other side.
- Wash your hands, to avoid passing germs onto others.
The Paper Tissue Waste Fiasco
Although you can now buy disposable tissues made from recycled paper (good for hospitals and those that need them), for everyday it may be best to invest a pack of hankies!
In the UK alone, over 5 million tonnes of used disposable facial tissues end up on landfills. And due to the contents in them (yuk!), they can’t be recycled.
Also remember that most paper tissues on sale in stores are sold in plastic packaging. Although in theory this can be recycled these days, in many cases it isn’t (and littered packs on streets result in plastic going down storm drains and into the sea).
