Narrator: Nestled inside this vegetable
is something you might use in the shower.
Narrator: One of Europe's biggest luffa producers
grows 200,000 of them a year.
They're used in bathing, cleaning, and dishwashing.
And according to this Spanish farm, Iberluffa,
business is booming.
Narrator: Founder Juan Carlos Moscato
has set up a system of sustainable farming,
recycling all the luffa seeds
and using the waste as fertilizer.
So why are so many
of their customers convinced they need
to buy natural luffas?
We head to Galicia, Spain,
to see how one company
is producing sustainable luffas
to match growing demand
and how it's trying to expand the business
without increasing its carbon footprint.
Luffas look like cucumbers when they're growing,
but they're actually closely related to pumpkins.
Their exact origins are hard to trace,
but scientists say the plant likely originated in Africa.
Archeological remains show its existence
in Egypt as far back as 3500 BC.
Luffas first showed up in China during the first century AD,
and they remain a staple in Chinese
and Indian cuisine today,
eaten when they're small and green.
It takes about six months for the plant to mature.
Juan Carlos says he has a few tricks to check
whether a luffa is ready to be picked.
Narrator: He can instantly identify the sound
after 12 years in the business.
Narrator: The inside of the fruit
also needs to turn yellow.
Luffas need about 200 frost-free days to grow.
Galicia's ideal for growing luffas,
because there's plenty of sun and rain.
Narrator: But Juan Carlos still tries to avoid waste
in every way he can.
The irrigation system recycles rain to water the plants,
and he is really proud of how big these luffas can get.
Some can grow up to a meter,
or 3 feet, in length,
but even the largest ones
weigh basically nothing when they're ripe.
Narrator: Farmers here hand-harvest for four months
from August to November.
Once they're off the vine,
the luffas have to ferment for at least three days.
The actual peeling process doesn't take very long,
because the luffas have soaked long enough
that the skin falls off in shreds.
Those same scraps are later recycled as fertilizer.
Farmworker Adrian says
extracting the luffa seeds can be the trickiest step.
He's perfected his whacking method
over the last three years.
He has to be careful not to hit the sponges too hard.
Narrator: The salvaged seeds aren't thrown away.
The farmers recycle and replant them for next year.
Narrator: The luffas soak in water again.
Farmers steep them in boiling water from a natural spring.
The farm doesn't use any electricity for this.
That hot water removes any bacteria
and gets rid of the proteins in the fiber of the luffas,
so they're even softer
when they're cut into sponges later on.
They're left to dry in a covered area.
Adrian can tell when they're ready just by touch.
Narrator: After the luffas are fully dry,
Adrian stamps them flat with this pressing machine.
Narrator: Iberluffa owns the patent
for these kitchen scrubbers
in Europe, Canada, and China
and makes sure all the wrapping can be recycled.
Narrator: The final sponges cost $3 apiece.
In the 1940s,
researchers at DuPont
developed the world's first artificial sponges.
It was made of cellulose, sodium sulfate, and hemp fiber.
The plastic material was more durable
and much cheaper to produce than natural sponges,
but plastic waste is really harmful for the planet.
So Iberluffa's customers want to buy natural luffas instead.
Narrator: Luffas also last seven months,
while plastic sponges can go bad in just a few weeks.
So luffas are really attractive to the zero-waste movement.
Narrator: Juan Carlos is developing a plan
to address the environmental footprint of shipping.
The company plans to expand to Taiwan, Canada, and the US.
Iberluffa is going to start replicating
its entire farming method outside of Spain,
first in the Southern US.
Narrator: The company plans to sell
its American-made luffas across the country.