I always thought of Swiffer mops as the ultimate in wasteful, environmentally harmful products. This interview witth the designer has me questioning some of my earlier assumptions. Water and detergents also have an environmental impact, too.
Inhabitat » SWIFFER SUSTAINABILITY: The swiffer designer speaks up Gianfranco: The development of the Swiffer was the result of our analysis of what average American households actually do to clean their floors. We discovered—by doing a lot of research and observation in people’s homes—that, on the average, kitchen floors are washed once a week and that it requires a lot of hot water and detergent for washing and then more hot water for rinsing. We further realized—just by watching a lot of people mop their floors—that people spend more time cleaning the mop than cleaning the floor.