Whenever visiting a public, I’m always left feeling unsure of which hand drying method is more green: a hand dryer or paper towels. Neither method is particularly environmentally friendly but a debate many of you have probably thought of at one point.

Hand dryers are usually consider to be the more environmentally friendly of the two.  A single machine can last for up to ten years, but you still have to consider the other factors involved.  The device itself is made from a variety of metals, all of which have an environmental impact.  The biggest factor would have to be the energy use. Many traditional hand dryers use over 2000 watts of energy when in use, sometimes for as much as 30 seconds.  With moderate use, that can add up to approximately 7,000 kWh of electricity over its ten year life span.

Just as with the paper towels in your home, those used in public restrooms are just as wasteful.  They cannot be reused or recycled and are often less cost effective that a hand dryer.  Even if the paper towels are made from recycled materials, they still require lots of energy to make and have shipped to the location.  All those paper towels also have to go somewhere, adding to the already massive problem of landfill waste.  One benefit over the hand dryer is that they require no energy to use.

Carbon Emissions

One factor for both methods that needs to be considered is how much carbon emissions are created for the entire lifecycle of the product.

As you can see from the above chart, using a standard dryer as compared with non-recycled paper towels emit about the same amount of carbon.  Recycled paper towels do have much less emissions, but still amounts to a considerable amount of carbon emissions.

The Best Option?

Neither option seems great, but I would have to give the edge to hand dryers.  As you can see from the left side of the chart, a high efficient hand dryer like the Excel XLERATOR uses a fraction of the energy that traditional hand dryers use.  This is because they are over 80% more energy efficient as well as much more effective at drying.

The only problem is that many restrooms are not fitted with these advanced hand dryers.  The next best option is to have a person hand towel that you take in the bathroom with you.  This allows you to avoid both methods, while still being able to dry off your hands.

Source: Pays to Live Green

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