A very fine chainmail scrubber (example) can replace a lot of what you'd use a sponge for. Not everything, but it's surprisingly gentle. The seller says not to use on enamel or polished stainless steel, but I absolutely would, you just need to be careful not to push too hard. It's like the back of a spoon. Possible to make scratches with just because it's hard, but if you're gentle, in practice you can rub it over things without scratching.

Still worth having a sponge or similar alongside it, but you won't need to use it as much, so you won't go through them as quickly.

Refinishing is DIY-able, but can be quite difficult, depending on the shape of the wood. The stuff you use to strip polyurethane is absolutely disgusting. And getting stuff professionally refinished can cost quarter to half the price of buying new.

Secondhand is still great and I would recommend it, but it's important to know what you're geting yourself into if you plan to refinish. Touching up or painting over is much easier than re-staining, though (but not as nice of a result).

Trees are a renewable resource! It's not about how many you kill, it's about how sustainably they're grown/harvested.

Plywood uses less wood, but sticking the layers together involves glue and high heat. Also, in the US, it is almost exclusively manufactured in California, so if you're on the east coast, you have to add in shipping.

Overall locally sourced, sustainably grown solid wood is the most eco-friendly. Unfortunately it can be hard to find out this information.

There's an inherent trade-off here between durability and function (comfortable, antimicrobial). Denim would last forever, but would you want to wear it?

With any delicate fabric, how you care for it makes a difference in how long it lasts:

• Hang dry
• Wash cold, gentle cycle, or hand wash
• Wash with other delicates, or in a mesh/garment bag
  • Rubbing up against rougher fabrics is what causes damage, you can think of the rougher fabrics like sandpaper.
• Use gentle detergent, and less of it.
  • Most important for silk, since many detergents have enzymes to break down proteins (e.g. egg yolks), which helps get out tough stains. However, silk is a protein, so it also gets broken down.

I've had a Waring MX1050XT for 15 years and estimated over 1500 smoothies. Had to replace the pitcher 10 years in but otherwise it is still going strong. Blends strong enough to crush raspberry seeds in smoothies. I like it more than Vitamix blenders I've used (smoothies end up with a better texture), although the smooth speed control on the vitamix is nice in some situations.