
OK -- I posted the clotheslines yesterday, and this broom today, but I promise that I'm not using re-nest to share all my vacation photos!
Anyway. This broom caught my attention as I was walking along the street in Rome. It looks to be made out of twigs rather than synthetic material.
And this wasn't a broom being used by an old Italian grandmother sweeping her front stoop ... this broom was being used by a municipal worker who was cleaning up around a bus stop.
It struck us as simple, beautiful, functional, and slightly green.
Comments (4)
china has the same type of brooms, hand sweepers, dish scrubbers, etc. made of twigs and mops made out of rag scraps. ingenious!
Poland has it too! My Grandpa always made them to sweep outside. It's green indeed and very durable.
I find it strange that you make a point to mention that this is "made out of twigs rather than synthetic material". Many, many brooms are made out of natural materials. Even the standard yellowish ones that are available in grocery stores and hardware stores are usually made out of straw (or something similar).
Just a thought.
You are inspiring me to start writing about my childhood in Siberia. It was not that long ago as I'm in my 20-s. We were "green" not because we wanted to, but because we could not afford to do things otherwise and/or there were no not-green products. THIS would be our broom for the outside (aka garden), and THIS ( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Ð ÑÑÑкий_веник.jpg ) was for sweeping inside the house, it's much softer, but still very durable. EVERYTHING in our dacha (aka summer house with a garden) was made from reclaimed materials - old metal head board as a fence, wooden boxes for the floors, etc.