By: Shailoh Lefeiloai, Staff Writer | November 9, 2022
Most schools and public franchises around the world have switched from paper towels to hand dryers in their restrooms. Some restrooms have one of these things, and others may have both.
Despite the choice, what we should be asking ourselves is: “How do hand dryers affect me?” and “How is using paper towels affecting the world?”
To settle this debate over which is more efficient and better, let’s start by stating the facts.
A clear competitor in school and public restrooms for hand dryers is the paper towel. According to intelligenthanddryers.com, paper towels are known to be non-recyclable. The website also states that they are the biggest cause of blocked drains, cost on average 95% more than hand dryers, and have a big hygiene concern.
Moving on to hand dryers, we see more hygiene concerns. According to “Five Essential Hand Dryer Facts”, dryers take 300 percent more to dry your hands than paper towels, they increase the spread of pathogens, contaminate restrooms, launch bacteria over six feet from the source, and they are louder which makes them less desirable.
According to an impromptu and small polling of students, preference varied according to gender. 8 out of 10 girls asked stated that they prefer paper towels over hand dryers whereas 6 out of 10 boys said that they preferred hand dryers over paper towels.
Most of the girls said that hand dryers had more bacteria, but the boys said that the hand dryers were faster and that “they didn’t have time.”
So, what do we do if both seem like bad options?
We must ultimately ask ourselves what we can do for our well-being. The choice is yours at the end of the day, but we must remember to choose an option and make sure to wash our hands regardless of the method used to dry them.
Overall, many studies have tested the air that blows out of the hand dryers that we use and found various types of bacteria that can lead to many diseases, but studies have also shown that the container that holds the paper towels can also hold contagious bacteria.
In the end, paper towels seem like the better option especially if your major concern is bacteria-you can simply avoid touching the container that holds the paper towels, but you can’t avoid germs with the hand dryers. Although you must acknowledge the negative affect that paper towels have on our environment and ecosystem, hand dryers still have more cons than paper towels.
Comments