Granted, it's been a while since I last mentioned plastic-free swaps in the kitchen (way back in week 25 to be precise!), but here's another great one that is here to stay in the Worrell household. It's also courtesy of Ed of #Write52 fame and his lovely financée, Nicki, since it was part of my fantastic birthday goodies: compostable sponge cloths and a coconut husk scourer.
Both of these little helpers are 100% biodegradable and can be popped on your compost heap/in your green garden bin once they get to the end of their useful life. Based on ours, that'll be a while away yet though! We've been using them both since September without complaint and they've still got plenty of life left in them. We use 2 of the sponge cloths on rotation and I just bung them in them washing machine when they're starting to get a bit yukky. And I've still got 2 brand new ones waiting to be used in the cupboard – hurrah!
But why bother with this switch in the first place?! I'll be honest, it hadn't really occurred to me *how* bad the "standard" yellow and green, 2-in-1 sponge scourers are for the environment. Apart from the obvious fact that they come packaged in single-use plastic, they also get thrown away with the non-recyclable household rubbish at the end of their useful life. What's more, many everyday sponges are made from the petroleum-based polyurethane and other man-made materials. In other words, conventional sponges are made from oil-based plastic and thus further promote our reliance on fossil fuels.
So, why not check out the ecoliving website to find a new sponge/scourer swap and ditch your next bit of single-use plastic in the kitchen? (There are plenty of other suppliers online, but I personally like ecoliving's ethos.)