The paper towels were put into bathrooms around Lake Land’s (LLC) campus during COVID times because of the safety concerns of the automatic hand dryers. And now they are being removed because of many reasons but mostly because of the saving of paper and the concern for the environment. I do not know when the paper towels will disappear for good, but I am aware that in late Feb. they were taken away in select bathrooms across Mattoon’s campus and it was strange. It took longer to dry hands after washing them or sometimes many would not even dry their hands because of the time consumption. It therefore takes longer to go to the bathroom in between classes, is disruptive to those classes that are near the bathrooms because of the noise of the hand dryers and risks spread of bacteria because of possible lack of cleaning of the hand dryers themselves. Since they have not been used since possibly pre-pandemic times. 

Hand dryers are loud. They risk spreading bacteria because of lack of cleaning or even the gathering of bacteria from the multitude of hands they come into contact with. Moreover, the paper towels were installed because of the fear of bacteria spreading through the hand dryers and now the paper towels are being taken away for environmental concerns, what about the continuous concern about bacteria spreading? There has not been any official word that I have seen from the Board of Trustees or the Administration, but I hope that this decision is not permanent but if it is I’m going to miss the paper towels. They are my best friend when I’m going to the bathroom in between my classes, during my classes and even when I’m working here on campus and just want to go back to work without cold, wet hands. Please don’t take away the paper towels, they are my best friend.