Three years into zero waste, and I just discovered bottle brushes – how can that be? I wish I’d started using them sooner! For years, I’ve been washing my dishes with compostable dish brushes, but I largely relied on the much smaller kind. They’re great for washing plates and pans, but to use them on mason jars, drinking glasses, and my water bottle, I’d have to cram my hand into the jar to enable the brush to reach the bottom.

That issue haunts me no longer, and I’m such a fan of this long-handled bottle brush. It makes cleaning the bottoms of jars (of which I wash so many, classic zero-waster style :) a breeze. I love that it’s fully compostable, and that it shipped to me in recyclable cardboard with paper tape, no plastic needed.

A few other tips for using the brush: storing it upright in a jar or other container near your sink will help it dry out fully between uses. Compostable brushes can grow a little mold or crack if they stay wet for too long, but if they’re well taken care of they should last you months. I also like to oil the handles of mine occasionally, which helps keep them in good condition.

Once I’ve deemed a brush no longer serviceable for cleaning dishes, I usually give it a good scrub and then think about where else in my home I can use it, if it still looks clean enough. Out-of-date vegetable brushes become bathtub scrubbers or sink scrubbers, and this one may end its life as a toilet brush. Sustainable shipping, two sets of uses in the home, and then compost? Not bad for a dish brush.

Celia is a co-founder of Zero Waste Chicago and writes about zero waste over at Litterless.

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