I always think they should just take it down and put up a sign that says, "Too cheap for towels." It won't damage my hearing and will get my hands just as dry.
No, it doesn't. We should be (and AFAIK often are) at the point that paper towel pulp is coming from forests we replant. Also, I don't know, maybe those dryers "save trees" but the paper towels provide a forcing function for someone to always have a couple of ready forests on hand, which seems better?
Yeah, I just don’t buy it. 100% recycled paper towels are a thing. And if you really want to get technical it seems like manufacturing and using those devices consume far more energy. Anyway, glad I’m not the only one shaking my head at these things...