What’s in Your Cart? – Sponges
As I went through the grocery store this week, picking up items on my shopping list, I realized that while I try to make good choices, I don’t always know what the best choice is. To inform myself to make more intentional choices, without totally overwhelming myself, I decided to try to tackle one item a week. Even if it is “after the fact”, I’ll know better for next time.
Here’s my cart:
There are a few items in there that I’d like to “research”, but I decided to start with sponges. I don’t go through many sponges. The dishwasher washes the dishes. I use my stack of dishtowels to clan the counters and messes. The sponge is only used to scrub out pots and pans for the most part. I keep them around until they are falling apart. Thus, I only go through about four sponges a year. In fact, that’s really kind of gross. I’d rather change them out a little more often, but not if I’m creating waste by doing so.
I found the article Choosing an Eco-Friendly Sponge online while looking for information about sponges. I’ll try to remember to stick the sponge in the dishwasher every so often, and instead of the polyfoam sponges, I’m going to look into cellulose sponges.
While I had intended to stop by Whole Foods to see if they had any TwistClean, I saw these new sponges from ScotchBrite while at Target. I wonder how they measure up? They are supposed to be compostable, but I do have to wonder if they are as “friendly” as the TwistClean ones.
What kind of sponge do you use? Do you have any additional recommendations on environmentally friendly sponges?
2 comments
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GBK Gwyneth
We don’t use sponges so I can’t really help you with that. The links to the various eco-friendly sponges are interesting though and I commend you for researching to find the best option. Most items go in the dishwasher. For our pots & pans that have to be hand washed then we use a regular dish cloth or a kitchen scrub brush if it needs scrubbing. The scrub brush gets an extra swish in sudsy water & rinsed very well afterwards and periodically gets run through a dishwasher cycle. It will be interesting to hear how the compostable sponges hold up.
I know, giving them up would be best, but I just don’t like the cloth/brush combo. I can never seem to get it to work as well … So, since I’m going to use sponges, I’m going to figure out how to make them last longer and buy better ones….!