Thursday, May 24, 2007

How to Compost Interlude: The Sponge Change

The sponge example: Ok, this one might just be fun for me, but I thought I'd share it anyway. You know those heavy duty power sponges, the dual kind that have sponge on the bottom and hard scrubby surface on the top that will take an inch of grease & grime off a pan that has been sitting in the sink for a month? As you know, I have a meticulously clean husband, and as soon as that sponge starts to think about harboring germs, it gets tossed (there is actually research to support his habit). And these highly synthetic sponges, of course, are not biodegradable.

So I went down to our local sustainable goods store and got these supercool biodegradable "pop-up" sponges. Here's what's cool about them: they come in the size and shape of a popsicle-stick, and when you put them under water they expand into a sponge--just like those little sponge-pills you used to get as a kid that turned into an animal or a boat when submerged in water. It's awesome. Oh, and they can go right in your composter. (I tried to find a picture online with no luck, so you'll have to use your imagination, or go down to your natural foods store to see if they have some.)

It's not quite as heavy duty on the scrubbing action as the old sponges, but so far, I haven't had anything it couldn't clean.

Missed anything in this series? It's easy to catch up:

Step 1: Make it a Priority
Step 2: Choose a System
Interlude: Nature Tried to Kill My Composter
Step 3: Collect Organic Material
Step 4: Mix the Materials
Step 5: Moisten the Mixture
Step 6: Wait
Interlude: The Lightbulb Change
Interlude: The Yogurt Change
Interlude: The Sponge Change
Interlude: The Leftover Change
Interlude: The Napkin Change
The Sort-of Sun-Mar 200 Review Part One
The Sort-of Sun-Mar 200 Review Part Two
Sun-Mar 200 Compost Update
Sun-Mar 200: Starting All Over Again

Step 7: Use Your Compost
Step 8: Sun Mar 200 Garden Composter Review

No comments: