Green and Clean Kitchen Sponges

To be honest, we never really gave much thought about our kitchen sponges nor what goes into making them. But we just recently realized while replacing our ragged old sponge that the odor fighting germ protection feature is formulated with a chemical additive we're trying to avoid: triclosan. That's the very same antibacterial additive that is contributing to the evolution of drug resistant bacteria that eat up antibiotics like it was an afternoon snack...

So what to do? A simple change is just avoiding sponges with germ-odor protection. There are natural kitchen sponges on the market, like Natural Value's scrubber sponge, which are made with 50% post-consumer recycled material and are even certified kosher if you want to go the eco-recycled route.

We're also considering switching to using a natural loofah sponge...maybe the larger natural shaped style used in the bath/shower, cut in half. The funny thing is we just saw the real vegetable this past weekend at the Alhambra farmer's market and purchased one for dinner without realizing its other use besides being a delicious veggie. Maybe the solution is to just grow our own sponges. That's as natural as they come!

Originally posted by Gregory on AT:LA.

Comments (3)

I remember my mom trying to make her own loofahs. She bought the raw veggie at a farm near by and tried to dry it at home. It wasn't easy, it half dried half rotted. But those were the days before google searches, so it might be easier to find the info now.

posted by lew! on July 8th 2008 at 4:56am
view lew!'s profile

Also, triclosan digrades into dioxin. As if it weren't bad enough as triclosan. Like many other chemicals we use with abandon, triclosan can be found in pretty much every river near humans. Scientists are now starting to look into its effects on fish and other organisms in those rivers. It is super-hard to avoid (like the sponge example, above), but please do!!

posted by mAlice on July 8th 2008 at 12:33pm
view mAlice's profile

If you're worried about losing the anti-bacterial (and anti-odor) properties of the chemicals, you can microwave your sponges after use to kill bacteria and make your sponges last longer before they become smelly or unsanitary. Just make sure they're a bit damp (dry sponges WILL catch fire) and pop them in for a minute or so. It's okay if they're still a bit soapy and it works with every kind of sponge I've ever had, synthetic or natural.

posted by Leah Hope on July 14th 2008 at 4:42pm
view Leah Hope's profile