Cloth Napkins

The average American family uses 2,200 paper napkins per year. At $0.02-0.05 each, that's $50-110 annually thrown straight in the trash. A set of 12 cloth napkins costs $15-30 and lasts 5+ years with regular washing. The cost per use drops to fractions of a penny. They also look better on your table, absorb more, and don't disintegrate mid-meal. The environmental math is even simpler: 571,230 tons of paper napkins hit US landfills annually.