The Scrubbies Project

Many, by ‘many’ I mean, three, of my fans know I started The Scrubbies Project back in July 2011. What might seem as just another Strange Jo Project there is actually some method to my madness.

I like to make things last. It’s a good way to save money and it’s better for the environment.

Note: Don’t worry I am not going to get (too) preachy about the environment.

I’ve had the same pair of oven mitts for 11 years. They are ragged, have cut and burn marks on them as well as some green paint.

I bought a hand blender in 1990. It still works just fine even though part of the wand is held together by electrical tape.

I don’t think I have ever bought a roll of paper towels in my life. I take old t-shirts and pyjamas and cut them into cleaning rags. They last for years.

I don’t have an e-reader because there are more paper than electronic books for free at the library.

I can well afford to buy another pair of oven mitts, an e-reader, some paper towels and a new hand blender, but why?  That’s just a pile of still useful items going into the landfill.

This takes me to The Scrubbie Project. I love the dollar store but I know that most of the stuff from the dollar store is over packaged cheap crap from China. I think we can all agree that Cheap Stuff from China is great, but it also fills up our landfills at an alarming pace cause,well, cheap stuff breaks pretty easily, and since it’s cheap we really don’t think too much about tossing it into the dumpster and going back to the dollar store to replace it.

Back in July 2011 I finally ran out of dollar store scrubbies and I went to the dollar store to buy another pack of scrubbies. Then I thought, I wonder how long I can make my $1.74 purchase last? I learned a few years ago that a full scrubbie breaks down just as fast as a half a scrubbie so I cut them in half. My 12 large scrubbies become 24 small scrubbies.

My first scrubbie lasted from 12 July to 27 August until an unfortunate user error. I accidentally ripped it in half but by then had worn so thin it was time to retire it. I am glad to report scrubbie #2 is going strong!

Note: Some dish cleaning scrubbie become bathroom cleaning scrubbies or bike chain cleaning scrubbies. Then they go to a special farm in the country where they can run and jump and play with other scrubbies. The city is no place for a scrubbie.

It would be naive to think that just making a pack of scrubbies last two or three years is going to help the economy or save the environment. My greatest motivation is that when I keep things going and going forever, I feel like a total rebel because it’s my tiny way of stickin’ it to the man! The idea behind The Scrubbie Project is if we used that same “let it last” idea for more things in our lives, then maybe we can have less impact.