At the office (arch. firm) we use drafting brushes to keep our work areas clean; I use one at home for quick dust-ups. They do work well.

I'm kind of lost at the point of posts like this. It's like we get to discuss how to save nickels and dimes here and there when we should be talking about $100 bills: i.e., what about eliminating our vehicles, or the size of our homes and their distances relative to metropolitan hubs of power and water, or the number of children we have.

Isn't this a bit like fiddling while Rome burns? We feel better about saving a paper towel here and there while ignoring the things that really make a difference?

I like the idea. Do what you can when you can! Great idea.

swag- all extremely important things you mention. But when you are irked about the little things not being enough (discussion wise) - you fail to remember, there are those whose goals (unfortunately) are not as grand as yours. I, for one, am grateful for the little steps everyone can take and actually do- even if their sacrifices may not be as large as the ones I take. One less paper towel is one less paper towel. Try to look at the glass as half full. At least there is effort out there.

Besides, there ARE posts about the bigger issues here. Not all of them can earth shattering. And as one person who lives a paper towel-less life, this is a nice solution to my wet dish rags.

I try to make little steps and big steps. When I see the loads of premoistened paper products in the supermarket, I can't help thinking that maybe if more people did little things like this, it would add up to something a little bigger. The fortunes made by Swiffer all come from our nickels and dimes.

I do have a hidden stash of paper towels (recycled) for the few truly nasty cleaning jobs I have: patting fish dry for frying and (sometimes) cat puke. Yes, I realize it would be better for the environment if I stopped eating fish and put my cats to sleep. In fact, I figure the best thing I can do for the environment is commit suicide. Then I'll never consume anything else again. Call me nuts, but I'm not into that. I'm radical enough not to want to have kids for environmental reasons. So I compromise with part-time vegetarianism, figuring that's not the best, but better than eating beef at every other meal. And I start to nitpick the little stuff in the vain hope that it makes a dent against the carbon footprint of my continued existance.

And yes, I have a use for this tip. I was thinking maybe I needed a mini broom and dustpan for the soil crumbs from my plants at the office... this may fill the bill.

I like the paintbrush idea, but I also laughed at whytephoenix's comments; it reminded me of a local woman who once wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper after some had written a very self-righteous anti-hunting letter; her basic premise was this; unless you wear a fig leaf and live in a ditch, you're a part of the problem, too.
I still use paper towels; I have three teens boys and tons of their friends come over; but, without listing them, I also have been for years, and continue to find new ways to be, "green"

That reminds me of the little brush and dustpan my mother had for brushing down our big starched table cloth at Christmas so she didn't have to take it outside to shake it. It was a hassle putting it on again.

The cloth had been sent out to a laundry to be washed, starched and pressed so she didn't want to risk getting it crumpled putting it back on again.