The Top Line:

Public Goods Walnut Sponge a reluctant buy because (1) It’s the cheapest option out there. (2) It’s very good quality: doesn’t stink or fall apart. (3) Made of slightly ‘better’ components. BUT it is wrapped in plastic (really, why?) and not biodegradable, like almost all sponges on the market.

You are buying a better product (better than Scotch-Brite, in our opinion) at a better price but does not do that much by way of waste reduction or sustainability.

The Breakdown:

• Cost & Products: $3 for a pack of 4 sponges

• How ‘Clean’ Is This? Not really clean. Walnut-based scrubber and vegetable cellulose but not biodegradable.

• Packaging: Ugh. It’s wrapped in plastic, the way you would normally find a sponge. Blah. Just toss the sponges in the box unwrapped, Public Goods!

• Purchasing & Shipping: The website is cleanly designed and ordering is a straightforward. The free shipping threshold seems a little on the high side at a minimum of $45. But we are finding more and more affordable reasons why to shop at Public Goods.

• Good to Know: The Public Goods blog goes out of its way a bit to compare products and reveal ingredients (even bad ones) in its content. Even the sponge in this case: check out the comments here.

• Coupons: $10 off your first order with ‘BLOG10’

• Whats Your Impact? Limited. Like, almost zero, actually. The sponge is made from “better” ingredients, we guess, but it’s not biodegradable AND wrapped in plastic! This is what we would call a greenwashed item.

The Efficacy

We have used Scotch-brite (three types) and Scrub Daddy/Mommy. We loved Scotch-Brite walnut sponge but we think Public Goods is a bit better.

• It works just as well as any Scotch-brite sponge (we hate the cheapy sponges that compress after, like, 2 uses)

• Doesn’t stink or shrivel (better than Scotch Brite)

• Looks pretty/neutral

• Overall, sticking with the first point that it basically mimics a Scot-Brite sponge made of walnut scrubs

The Cost

YMMV on how often to change a sponge. We read some do every few days (wt-heck?) to six weeks.

We will assume that you will change a sponge four weeks here and most of our comparisons are a Scotch-Brite type of sponge or Scrub Daddy/Mommy:

Money Thoughts: Well, we’re not being that much more green than the Scotch-Brite Greener Cleaner (which is to say, barely at all). Even so, Public Goods sponge is the cheapest option*!

*This does not include the annual membership that you need to pay to buy from Public Goods.

The Good:

✔ Cheapest option

✔ Like the neutral color

✔ Works just as well as, better in our case, Scotch-Brite brand sponge

✔ Does not stink and maintains its shape for a bit longer

✔ Made of ‘better’ ingredients

The Bad:

✗ It’s wrapped in plastic!

✗ Green-washed item

✗ Even though it’s made of ‘better’ ingredients, it’s still not biodegradable!

Our Recommendation:
I mean, it is the cheapest sponge out there for quality and it is made of ‘better’ ingredients. Sadly, most sponges (not brushes, like our lovely Kuchenprofi brush) on the market are not at all zero waste. It is hard to find competition. Since you would be doing marginally better than your normal grocery store/mainstream brand (also wrapped in plastic), then we suppose the slight improvement of Public Goods walnut sponge is a reluctant buy.

We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!