You have seen them and you probably hate them or love them. My son is autistic and he is afraid to go into a restroom that has hand dryers because of the noise. He will rush to use the restroom and then do everything he can to get out of washing his hands because he knows he will have to use the hand dryer. Despite that, I started wondering just how green the hand dryer is and this is what I have found out.Many businesses looking into green initiatives are going with hand dryers because they cut down on the carbon footprint that the business puts out. Think about it. A towel dispenser means that paper towels have to be used in huge quantities. Did you know that, according to the eco-friendly magazine Slate, the production of paper towels is intensive in harmful pollutants that can be released into nearby rivers and waterways. Add to that the distance that paper towels must be trucked to their destination and you can see what a huge carbon footprint it leaves.
You might be arguing that electric hand dryers also have to be manufactured and shipped, but the shipping is a one time deal and they usually last 7 to 10 years so that saves a huge amount of emissions that paper towel delivery has.
Now let's look at the amount of kilowattage that hand dryers put out. The newest dryers use about 1600 watts. That results in a usage of about 222 kilojoules per use vs. 460 kilojoules per usage when taking into account the total manufacture process. Let me add that the study that found these differences claim that the 460 number came when figuring that the standard user takes 2 towels. If each user cut down to 1 towel, the difference would be minuscule. Of course, I have seen people use 3 to 4 towels at a time so this number can be confusing.
Let's answer the question, are hand dryers green? Maybe so, but not by a long way. Newer technologies come along all the time and technologies improve. The newest generation of hand dryers are efficient and durable and the next generation looks to be even better. The only problem I see here is what to do with children like mine who hate hand dryers. Any suggestions?
