Solon High School replaced paper towel rolls in both the senior commons and band bathrooms in favor of motion sensor hand dryers for the 2023 school year.
While students understand the eco-friendly initiative, many are frustrated with the quality of the machines. Senior student Sofia Glazen finds the hand dryers much less convenient than their paper towel counterparts.
“If I need to get back to class, or I’m running late and need to dry my hands off, it’s basically impossible because of how bad the air dryers are,” Glazen said.
According to SHS Principal Erin Short, the SHS’s maintenance department decided to make the change because they wanted to take a more eco-friendly and economically responsible approach.
But the change was mainly set in motion because of an incident that occurred last year.
“We had some plumbing issues on that [the auditorium] end of the building last year,“ Short said. “In fact, the musical was delayed a night because of a backup in our pipe system.
“When we had the companies come out and blow out the pipes and clean them up, they found several paper towels that had been flushed down the toilet. So, it helps mitigate those issues too, so people aren’t inclined to put that kind of waste in the toilet. The sewer system just can’t handle it.”
Students who use those bathrooms constantly because of extracurriculars, like Corinna Arnopolin, a senior in Music In Motion and Drama club, are the most affected by the change.
“If the dryers were better, then I would totally be chill, but because they absolutely suck…no thank you,” Arnopolin said.
There also have been many debates about the cleanliness of hand dryers compared to paper towels. However, AP News released an article in 2020, disproving the conclusion from the general public that paper towels are safer.
“Through the scientific research, the use of hand dryers and paper towels to dry hands were found to be equal from a health and safety perspective,” AP News said.
Short and the maintenance department are using this year as a trial period for future usage.
“I think we will take a look at it half way through this year for next year, to make a determination of how effective it was, and we may eventually roll more over,” Short said.
