apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I don't see how this is a bonus as I can cut up old cloth, or buy regular dishtowels, that biodegrade anyway, versus this product that comes in a PLASTIC bag.

1939charm is right: Last night I cut up a giant bath towel that had started to badly fray and made replacements for the Swiffer Wet Jet pads, wash clothes and dish towels. They work great . And after I surge the edges tonight they will LOOK great.

I like the idea of repurposing old towels for this... Thank you especially, Kit, for the idea of using them as Swiffer pads. You can wash regular dishtowels, and cotton is renewable and biodegradable.

Emily

1949charm: that of course is a wonderful idea and something we already do in our household when we do have spare cloth around the house. But the notable thing about these kitchen towels are their material composition, which hopefully pushes the overall market to sustainable materials beyond just cotton.

I like the idea of these...

...but I'm wondering - Are there any eco-conscious alternatives to scubbing pads?

bepsf--I bought a sustainable loofah like this: http://www.loofah-art.com/

I went to this eco friendly store here, and they also had some interesting Japanese scrubbers...not sure of material...but they were like these I found on treehugger: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/elite_natural_s.php

Christine -
Thanks for the resource, I'll have to trek up to the local Japanese Hardware store!

Love your comment Kit. Very green. thanks had not thought about that.

The graphic's hideous and I'd rather cut up old towels and clothes and stuff. If it's at TJ's, it's a niche product anyway, not that that's a bad thing.

But, can we stop with the "LOOK! Buy more crap" posts when the objects aren't anything special? Please?

Palmetto: we unfortunately cannot satisfy everyone, especially when it comes to things as mundane as the kitchen towel, and there's no hard sell here (I myself am not going to nor have any real interest in purchasing 99.9% of the products or even ideas on any website). But I personally found it absolutely wonderful that I was able to find a sustainable material product in the shopping aisles of a non-niche grocer like Von's, thus the post.

I actually don't mind the bamboo graphic design itself (hideous seems quite a strong word), but it is quite unnecessary. Buy more crap? Actually I ended up buying less because I can use these instead of paper towels (and we don't have any spare old towels or cloths here to cut up because we do try to live with less), so hopefully others might find a bamboo/corn derived cloth worth a try if they're in the same boat.

Already gave most of my old towels to the animal shelter, but maybe one of the remaining ones can be Swiffered. I do like the idea of washable pads. I don't want to forfeit the Swiffer "bucketless" floor cleaning system, since I have back problems and buckets are difficult for me, but tossing those Swiffer pads always makes me cringe. Thanks for the idea!

Oh -- which reminds me -- one good side effect of posts about things that COULD be purchased is the interesting ideas that come from the ensuing discussions! (Which are free!)

SherryBinNH: I like your positive attitude!