Chris Scafe stood in a public restroom facing a dilemma. After washing his hands, Scafe, owner of Sunflower Recycling in Lawrence, debated which option would help the environment more: paper or air. Stuck between the two, Scafe used a third option: his pants.

“I had been wrestling with the idea of which was better for a while, that is when I just decided to wipe my hands on my pants,” Scafe said. “Something as small as this saves 100 percent of a paper towel or the energy used to air dry.”

This moment of inspiration in the restroom sparked Scafe’s Use Your Pants campaign.

$100 and 12,000 stickers later, Scafe’s green and white stickers can be read on towel dispensers and air dryers from a men’s restroom in Blake Hall to Florida and Idaho: “Save a tree, wipe your hands on your pants, and conserve energy.”

In addition to conserving energy and natural resources, using pants instead of towels can have an economic benefit as well.

In 2009, the University spent $51,000 to supply the buildings on campus with 3,368 cases of multi-fold, roll and single fold paper towels, said Vic Kane, assistant director of custodial services.

The Department of Student Housing has spent $19,600 supplying more than 5,000 residents and guests with 392 cases of paper towels since the school year began in August, said Diana Robertson, director of Student Housing.

Those two amounts combined equal about 109 million feet or 20,770 miles of paper towels — about two-thirds of a mile per person on campus. The total is almost long enough to stretch around the earth.

However, using pants as towels raises a couple of concerns among restroom patrons and health providers alike.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Lauren Michalson, a freshman from Overland Park. “It’s not sanitary. Plus, it’s awkward and weird. I’d prefer to wash my hands and dry them with paper towels.”

Patty Quinlan, nursing supervisor at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said that during flu season, pants can be exposed to the same viruses and bacteria as hands.

“You are less likely that the outer fabric of your pants came into contact with doorknobs, elevators buttons, light switches or other hands,” Quinlan said. “I still feel this would be a false sense of security to think that the outer fabric hadn’t come into contact with the same viruses and bacteria as your hands.”

Understanding the concerns, Scafe said his primary reason for starting the campaign was to increase awareness about the everyday ways to save the environment.

He said his concern for the environment started as a child during the years he traveled the world with his father, who was a diplomat. He said he remembers seeing a polluted river running though a city in Bolivia that was so toxic, dogs would drink the water and die.

“That really made an impression on me for the rest of my life,” Scafe said.

But he can’t stand in every restroom around the world, let alone Lawrence, to promote his idea. That’s where the stickers came in.

Since 2007, about 9,000 stickers have been mailed locally and across the country.

Some of those stickers adorn a paper towel dispenser in the men’s restroom of Blake Hall, already riddled with some wear, tear and bathroom graffiti. One pointing out the obvious: that wiping your hands on your pants would make your pants wet.

While some have noticed the stickers, that doesn’t mean everyone has or that they follow the stickers’ instructions.

Mike Fonkert, a junior from Tonganoxie, said he uses the restrooms in Blake Hall every day and has never noticed the stickers’ message.

“If I had noticed, I wouldn’t use my pants,” Fonkert said. “Nobody wants wet jeans.”

With a similar mind set, Matt Cross, a junior from Ames, Iowa, said there had to be better ways. He had no inclination to use his pants as a towel, especially when it’s freezing outside, he said.

Although few students weren’t sold, local businesses have told their customers about their third option when it comes to hand-drying agents.

Juice Stop, 4821 W. 6th St., has had a sticker since September, when employee Rachel Major posted it. She said the drink shop hadn’t heard any fuss about the sticker since it’s been there.

“I thought it was clever,” Major said. “People notice things that are a little different and creative. I think they see it and maybe pull fewer paper towels.”

— Edited by Kristen Liszewski