Why choose our EcoCoconut range

Every single piece of plastic to ever have been made still exists to this day. The average kitchen is full of plastic, including appliances, food packaging, containers and furniture to name a few.

While it would be big challenge to get rid of everything that’s made of this useful but very damaging material, there are plenty of small changes you can make today that will make a difference to the planet. To give people the opportunity to choose biodegradable products over plastic, EcoCoconut was created over 135 years ago.

What is it?

EcoCoconut Biodegradable Scourers and Multipurpose Bottle Brush are the perfect eco-friendly alternatives to plastic cleaning products. Both products are biodegradable, plastic-free and non-scratch. Made from coconut husk, they’re soft enough not to scratch your pots and pans but robust enough to tackle any tough dirt.

They’re also naturally anti-bacterial, able to remove mould easily, free from toxic chemicals and designed to clean hard-to-reach places like baby bottles, wine glasses and reusable drinking bottles.

What makes it sustainable? 

Coconut is a renewable, natural material that absorbs carbon dioxide. Although coconut farming is highly versatile, it usually focuses on coconut oil, milk and water and desiccated coconut. The coconut husks are usually disposed of as waste even though it is usable.

EcoCoconut brush handles are made with wood from FSC-certified rubber trees grown in a sustainable plantation and harvested at the end of their productive life.

What does FSC certified mean? Find out here.

EcoCoconut products use Coir, a natural fibre extracted from the outer husk. Each coconut can yield around 80 to 150 grams of Coir so a plantation can create a huge amount of products and by-products.

Coconut husk has many benefits. It can absorb moisture 50% faster than polyester whilst having a quick drying time, which is why it is also common to use it in the garden. As coconut is a good absorber, it can minimise bad smells without additional chemicals. These factors also make it a great material to use in the kitchen, replacing a traditional plastic sponge.

They’re designed with longevity in mind, but once they have reached the end of their long life they are fully biodegradable so you can throw it in your garden compost confident that it won’t still be around for years to come. Plus, EcoCoconut products come in fully recyclable, plastic-free packaging, so the entire package is eco-friendly from production to disposal to packaging.

Why choose this over other non-sustainable alternatives? 

The most obvious alternative is a plastic bottle brush and scourer, which pose a whole host of environmental problems. Every time you wash up using a plastic sponge, brush or scourer, you are sending micro-plastic straight down the drain and into our water system. Billions of micro-plastic end up polluting the ocean, lakes and even our drinking water.

Plastic sponges, brushes and scourers aren’t designed with longevity in mind so it only takes a few weeks before it’s time to bin and replace them. Alarmingly, 400 plastic million plastic sponges are thrown away each year in the UK and you can bet that they’re all still sitting in landfill or floating in the sea today.

Nylon scourers are a popular kitchen cleaning product and it’s not just the micro-plastics to be worried about. Many of these scourers are made from nylon 66 which is a synthetic material made from processing crude oil. The material is then put through an intense chemical process resulting in the strong, stretchy fibres that are used in many textiles.

A by-product of this process is nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It also requires an extreme amount of water and energy to produce and cool the fibres. All of these factors greatly contribute to global warming so essentially every time you choose a nylon scourer, even though you cannot see the consequences, it is leaving a mark on the planet.

Although nylon is a strong and durable material, it can become greasy quickly. Because of this, it doesn’t last too long in the kitchen. As nylon is not recyclable, all of the scourers end up in landfill, taking decades to even partially degrade in impossible conditions.

In terms of price, the EcoCoconut bottle brush costs £4.45, when compared to a Tommee Tippee bottle brush from Sainsbury’s that costs £4.50, it costs nothing more to be eco-friendly. Although Wilko sells a bottle brush for £1, it is made from ‘durable plastic’ and ‘tightly wound plastic-coated wire with plastic bristles’ so it couldn’t get much worse for the environment! The EcoCoconut bottle brush will last far longer so in the long term, it’s cheaper to invest in an eco-friendly option.

As for scourers, although a pack of scourers from Tesco costs roughly £1.50 and a 2 pack of EcoCoconut biodegradable scourers costs £3.55, there is no competition when it comes to sustainability. Just like a bottle brush, or any plastic cleaning product, it won’t last anywhere near as long as a reusable eco-friendly option like coconut husk.

Why choose this over other sustainable alternatives?

Beechwood and Tampico brushes like our ecoLiving dish brush is a fantastic sustainable alternative. However, the shape and material of a beechwood and Tampico brush would not suit the shape of a bottle. The curved shape of the EcoCoconut bottle brush is specifically designed to reach awkward corners making it far more useful.

Cellulose sponges also have many benefits. They’re completely natural so you can leave them to biodegrade in your home compost pile. However, you’ll need a sturdy scourer to get rid of any tough stains on your pots and pans and choosing a scourer made from coconut husk is the best of both worlds – eco-friendly and super tough on dirt.

I co-conut believe I didn’t make the swap sooner

Switching to EcoCoconut products has been a seamless swap. They work just as effectively as traditional cleaning products but knowing I’ve made a green choice for the planet, my pots and pans seem to sparkle even more. Although a tad more expensive at first, it means I don’t have to keep buying new scourers, brushes and sponges in my weekly shop.

For more easy swaps that come with unbeatable pricing, planet points and tons of green fun, join our Home Club today. As a Home Club Member you can buy at unbeatable prices, guaranteed – a minute to join, a lifetime of impact. We’re in, are you?