So many kitchen and cleaning products ending up in landfill at the end of their lives, think of all those sponges, scourers and rubber gloves that add to our waste problems. Here’s some suggestions about what else could be done with them as well as other food waste tips.
Laura Harnett from Seep eco-cleaning products (theseepcompany.com) has these ideas:
- USE SPONGES TO HELP STOP PLANTS DRYING OUT
“Cut up your sponges into small pieces and add into compost where you’re planting up your tubs and hanging baskets. These will act, literally as, sponges and will help hold moisture in the soil. Perfect for this current heat wave as well as throughout the summer and will help when you’re on holiday. Make sure you choose an eco sponge such as one from Seep as this will also compost meaning no micro plastics will find their way into the soil and eco system.”
- NATURAL PESTICIDES FROM CHILLI PEPPERS
“Next time you use a hot chilli in your cooking, don’t throw away the tips or any seeds you don’t want to include. Simply fill your re-usable spray bottle with water, add the seeds and chilli remains, leave for 24 hours for it to infuse and it will create a potent pesticide that’ll help to protect your plants from bugs and flies without using harmful chemicals.”
- UPCYCLE RUBBER GLOVES BY MAKING BIRD SCARERS
“When your kitchen rubber gloves get tatty, use them in the garden instead. Use them for gardening to keep your hands clean and then when they’re not even suitable for that any more, create your own bird scarers. Take some natural twine and tie the arm holes onto canes allowing the fingers to flap in the wind at our feathered friends. Seep rubber gloves are even more eco friendly as they use sustainably sourced and fairly traded rubber, are fully plastic free and biodegradable.”
- COPPER SCOURER SLUG STOPPERS
“Use copper protect your plants from slugs and snails without using nasty garden chemicals. They hate the metal as it gives them a small, harmless electric shock when they come into contact with it. Instead of buying expensive copper tape for your pots and plants, simply unravel your copper pan scourer when it’s no longer useful and this will have the same effect. The Seep copper scourer costs £7 for a pack of three.”
- FOOD WASTE TO ADD STRAIGHT INTO YOUR SOIL
“If you don’t have a compost heap or composter, don’t worry as some household waste has a benefit added straight to the soil. Banana skins act as an insecticide and also a natural fertiliser for many types of plants. Nut shells and egg shells help to aerate soil, which is essential for those who have heavy, clay soil. Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen so make a great addition to the soil, especially for a veg patch.”
Seep offers a range of biodegradable washing up and cleaning tools that are gentle on the planet, pleasing on the eye and genuinely work.
Whilst many of us have switched to eco-friendly cleaning detergents and sprays, the tools that we clean with remain packed full of plastic. Seep cleaning tools mean that everyone can make small, greener choices everyday. Plus, Seep is the only B-Corp certified cleaning tool brand in Europe, so customers have further peace of mind about the business as a whole as well as the products.
Seep is an award-winning start-up bringing pioneering products to a dusty cleaning category, continuing to rethink traditional materials and innovate. https://theseepcompany.com/
