Eating food is great but what comes afterwards is something we all wish to avoid. Universally, dishwashing is a dreaded chore. Using a kitchen sponge to wash dishes is equally terrible. They are gross, infested with bacteria, made of synthetic materials, and last only a few weeks, if not a couple of days.
“Kitchen sponge is a common daily item in our life. However, due to the easy-to-consume property, sponge is extremely not durable and need to be replaced periodically,” said Chinese designer Shuzhan Yuan. “As a result, thousands of discarded sponges are difficult to degrade and eventually become plastic waste flowing into ocean and land. Besides, because the kitchen environment is humid, and the sponge is porous and easy to absorb water, once the sponge is not replaced in time, a large number of bacteria can breed and multiply and endanger our health.”
Seeking to realize a sustainable alternative, Yuan created Biosponge, a 100% biodegradable and compostable kitchen washing sponge made of seeds and hemp-based Terrafibre.
As people use the Biosponge, the embedded seeds will absorb water and germinate. After roughly two weeks of use, the seeds will eventually sprout into green plants. Once sprouted, it signifies to the user that it is time to replace the Biosponge with a new one to avoid harmful bacteria.
“In the beginning, I focused on the environmental problem in the kitchen,” explained Yuan. “I did large deep researches on the kitchen and find the pain point, and finally get the sponge is a huge potential health threat. After that, I try to find a better material and design better stuff to replace the traditional sponge.”
“The kitchen sponge is a common commodity in our daily life. Biosponge is a good alternative that is healthy and environmentally friendly. I hope this product could mass-production and go to the market in the future,” added Yuan.
