Coconut Kitchen Scourers

Those conspicuous yellow and green kitchen sponges are ubiquitous in kitchens everywhere across the land. Long presumed to be the pinnacle of dishwashing instruments, this silly little kitchen sponge has lost its shine now that we’ve realised that it has been sneakily shedding microplastics down the drain all this time. What a disaster. (I’m sure you’ve noticed before that the green side of the sponge flakes off leaving green specs all over your sink, those are microplastics.) Once no longer fit for purpose, these green and yellow monstrosities then have to be thrown into landfill as they cannot be recycled.

These kitchen scourers can also be a replacement for steel wire scourers, which while not made out of plastic, often come packaged in plastic, and also have the unfortunate side effect of scratching your pots and pans if used too vigorously.

They don’t shed microplastics down the drain. You can wash your dishes without contaminating the water system. What an amazing achievement! (How are plastic sponges still allowed to be sold????)

These coconut scourers are made from a waste product, so they bring new purpose to something that could easily have been discarded. They are great at scrubbing but the bristles aren’t sharp so they won’t scratch your pots.

End of life: Once your coconut scourer can scrub no longer, cut the bristles off the wire and dispose of it responsibly by recycling the metal wire, then composting the bristles (or you can put them in your food waste bin). The coconut coir bristles are 100% biodegradable. Alternatively, you could extend this product’s useful life by using it as a soap dish to rest your dish soap on. Use your imagination!

You know you can buy plastic washing-up sponges for almost nothing, the classic yellow and green sponges can be bought in packs of 20 for about a pound. That’s not why you are here. Many of these ‘Is it worth it?’ sections on the product pages have to appeal to your moral judgement rather than your innate bargain finder mechanism. These scourers are no exception. Can you in good conscience, continue to use plastic washing-up sponges that you know shed plastic microfibres down the drain? Preventing this casual environmental damage might make your wallet lighter, but spending a bit more on a good alternative to plastic sponges definitely won’t weigh heavier on your heart. 

I can tell you that these coconut scourers will last you a lot longer than your average plastic sponge, so it isn’t as much of a price increase that it first appears to be. They also have the advantage of not losing their shape, unlike metal wire scourers. If you normally buy steel scourers (in plastic packaging) then these cost a bit more than plastic sponges but you can still get a few for under £2, as I said, no immediate bargains to be found here, but we know that isn’t exactly the main issue.

The scourers are my favourite plastic-free alternative to washing up sponges. I hate washing dishes with a passion, it is my least favourite chore, but these scourers make the job a lot easier because they work so well and can be used on everything. They also pick up dish soap well, so those two items make the perfect dishwashing combo. Using the right tools makes a dreaded job slightly easier to tolerate after all.

What are they made from?

Waste coconut coir (which is made from the shell of the coconut) fitted around steel wire to create the circular frame of the scourers. The coir is 100% biodegradable. The wire can be recycled.

 

 

Where do they come from?

Made in Gampaha, Sri Lanka. Shipped via sea freight rather than by air to reduce the carbon footprint of the product. Zero Waste Club plant a tree for each item they sell to offset any carbon emissions they make during production and shipping.

 

 

Are they sustainable?

Coconut coir – What would be considered a waste product, the husk of a coconut is hard and hairy, and is just an obstacle to get into the good stuff inside, as the sweet milk and flesh of the coconut is where the money traditionally is. That husk is no longer considered to be empty and lifeless, as it has amazing properties that we can make use of.

Steel wire - Steel is the most recycled material on the planet. It can be infinitely recycled, unlike plastic which is downcycled.  All stainless steel that currently exists is made up of around 60% recycled steel!

 

 

How about ethical?

Zero Waste Club put a lot of effort into being transparent about their supply chains. For each of their products, they provide a ‘makers story’ a mini-interview with one of the craftspeople who create these products. This is also printed on the packaging for the natural kitchen scourers.

Here is an excerpt from this makers story: ‘Hello! I’m Dharshana, I’m 58 years old. I decided to set up a system to use the waste from coconut harvesting and turn the waste coir into useful environmentally friendly products. Thanks to people buying eco-friendly products from us, we have been able to offer jobs to lift hundreds of people out of poverty. So we feel very grateful for people buying environmentally-friendly good products from us. It really helps with improving the living standards of the villagers here.’

Zero Waste Club state that the crafters are paid per scourer made, which allows them to work to suit their need, so they can fit it in easily around their other responsibilities such as caring for their family.

 

 

Extra good stuff:

Zero Waste Club are…

• Vegan
• Plasticfree
• Use no chemicals
• All their woodbased material used such as bamboo for products or cardboard for packaging is FSC certified. This means these materials only come from areas with existing harvesting practices, no virgin/old-growth forest is cut down for these materials.
• Zero waste Club estimate they have offset around 100,000 singleuse plastics from being used so far.
• They plant a tree for every item they sell which is now over 100,000 trees!
• They reinvest their profits into the business to create more sustainable products and increasing products made out of waste materials.

 

Conclusion –

Scour the scourge of microplastics going down your drain by swapping your nasty green and yellow plastic sponges for these brilliant, natural and plastic-free coconut coir scourers instead!