Washing hands is the first step to preventing the spread of illnesses, and considering that we are heading towards the most contagious time of the year for the flu, keeping good hygiene is especially important. While using the bathroom during passing time is often encouraged, the hand dryers at North prohibit proper sanitization within the limited time. Because of the short time available to go to the bathroom, I’ve seen many students either leave with wet hands or resort to another method of drying. This insufficient drying comes with the risk of virus transmission. According to the National Institutes of Health, wet hands are 1000 times more likely to spread germs on wet hands than dry. Not only do these dryers indirectly facilitate the spread of germs, but they also are disliked by any punctual student. When I mentioned this topic to friends at school, I found out that many people also find hand dryers frustrating and inefficient. From improper drying to tardies, hand dryers are ultimately the wrong choice for North students. I propose that instead of using these deficient, tardy-causing, dryers North should invest in recycled brown paper towels. 

Finding time to go to the bathroom can be difficult as a student with a busy school day. On a given day, it’s possible that important lectures, tests and substitutes who are unfamiliar with the new bathroom pass system can interfere with the ability to get out of class to go to the bathroom. Someone like me, unwilling to forfeit their free time at lunch, would only have passing time as an option to go. In a five-minute passing time, seemingly half of it could be consumed by the hand drying process alone. I have been tardy multiple times from spending too much time at the hand dryer and yet my hands have never fully dried from the hand dryer alone. Recently, I have noticed that people will skip the hand dryers completely to avoid this, instead using toilet paper, clothes, or shaking to dry them in a hurry. However, this is not hygienic, as clothes and toilet paper gather bacteria all day from the school environment and transfer quickly on wet hands. Studies conducted by Clorox have shown that clothes worn at school all day are about 28 times germier than the average toilet seat, making students even further susceptible to sickness. The current bathroom setup obviously is both ineffective and unsanitary, which is why we need to make the switch to paper towels.

Unlike the current hand dryers, using eco-friendly paper towels would improve the efficiency and hygiene of the school environment. These paper towels not only offer a practical and effective solution, but also address the persistent issues associated with hand dryers. Unlike their electronic counterparts, paper towels are easy to use and provide a fast, reliable drying experience, guaranteeing not only speed but also thoroughness in maintaining proper hand hygiene. In addition they are consistent, unlike a hand dryer which could be broken, slow, or have sporadic function. Eliminating hand dryers reduces energy consumption and emissions and contributes to paper recycling. Switching from troublesome hand dryers to user-friendly, eco-conscious paper towels at North not only would improve the school environment to be more efficient and hygienic, but also sustainable. All in all, the benefits of paper towels are simply too obvious to ignore, North needs to make the swap.