Bottles and bags, food and straw wrap. Pipes, packaging, toys and trays. The plastic is everywhere, and yet some people may be surprised at how much they really use.
A typical closet is loaded with plastic, fabric in active polyester clothes, acrylic sweaters, nylon swimsuits and elastic socks, and is being detached in the environment without stopping.
When the garments are used, washed and put through the dryer, they throw plastic fiber fragments. A single laundry load can release millions which are so small wastewater treatment plants cannot capture them all. They end on the local river routes that connect to the ocean. Marine animals eat them, And that can happen plastic to bigger animals and humans.
Even natural fabrics throw fibers and have chemicals that can be filtered into the environment. But the polyester is the most Fiber widely used on Earthand together with other synthetic fibers they represent approximately two thirds of production worldwide.
Tuesday is Earth Day, when people around the world contemplate ways to reduce their impact on the planet.
“All those who wear and wash clothes are part of this problem, but all those who wear and wash clothes can be part of the solutions,” Rachael Z. Miller, founder of the Rozalia project based in Vermont for a clean ocean.
Simple changes such as wash less and wear cold water instead of hot can help reduce fiber detachment. It is more challenging that textiles must be produced and used more sustainable, said Elisa Tonda in the UN Environment Program. For example, the design of clothing that throws less microfibers and are of high quality to last longer, said Tonda, who leads the branch of resources and markets.
The easiest solution is to wash clothes less frequently, which makes less the friction that separates the fibers, said Anja Brandon, director of Ocean Conservancy’s plastics policy.
“They fall and throw themselves with a lot of soaps, really designed to shake things to get dirt and spots,” Brandon said.
Miller uses a spotted stick for cleaning. Both say that when the clothes are washed, they throw themselves less when placed in cold water in complete loads to reduce friction, in a shorter cycle, then they hung to dry.
Inspired by the way coral filters the ocean, Miller invented The Cora ball, A laundry ball that can be thrown into the washing machine to cut the clothes that hit each other. It also catches microfibers. (A part of the income goes to the Rozalia project.) Another option is to put synthetic fabrics in A wash bag That captures fibers.
What clothes are thrown more? To find out, Press a strip of transparent packaging tape to a garmentThen pégallo on white paper to verify if there are fibers, Miller said. Garments that are loose or woven tend to spill more, such as fleece.
Miller said people do not need to hurry to throw clothes that are more likely to throw. She owns wool jackets. Instead, he suggested that said clothes can be used alone or out with a layer at the top, and it is worth thinking twice before acquiring more garments like that.
“I try not to blame or panic people because many of this information is very new,” said Miller. “And so we could say: ‘ok, I have it. How can I be strategic about what I have?'”
Filters can be added to the washing machines to capture microfibers. Samsung Electronics collaborated with Patagonia and the Global Conservation Organization Ocean Wise to launch one in 2023. It is now sold in more than 20 countries for frontal cargo washing machines. Bosch recently launched a microfiber filter in Europe for washing machines.
France was the first to adopt a law to demand that the new washing machines sold in the country have a microfiber filter, although the implementation has been delayed.
In the United States, efforts to demand filters in the states have failed. The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, vetoed a bill in 2023, saying that he was concerned about the cost for consumers and wants to encourage, not a mandate, technologies to eliminate microfibers in wastewater. In Oregon, the state senator Debe Patterson proposed a bill this year that required microfiber filters in new washing machines sold in that state after she met technology in Canada. Patterson said the bill does not yet have enough support, but will continue trying.
The Association of Origin Appliances manufacturers opposes the proposals, saying that it is concerned about consumer costs and filter effectiveness.
Some big brands are testing their fabrics to help researchers understand fiber fragmentation, including Adidas, Nike, Patagonia and Under Armor.
Are among more than 90 brands, retailers and manufacturers to associate with The microfiber consortium In the United Kingdom, founded in 2018 to investigate and offer solutions to transform textile production, including the reduction of fiber rupture.
Almost 1,500 fabrics have been tested. None is the same, so it is a difficult problem to solve, said the CEO of the consortium, Kelly Sheridan.
Patagonia has been a leader in trying to Stop the propagation of synthetic fiber waste In air and water, say that it depends on clothing brands to avoid it at the source since the cleaning of microplastics in the environment is not yet possible.
He paid for his own research that began a decade ago about the involvement of his clothes. The company worked with suppliers to choose fabrics and dyes and finish their clothes so that it reduces the detachment. They collaborated on new filtration technologies for washing machines, textile mills and municipal systems.
One of his best known styles is something called “best sweater” that changes from the virgin polyester to recycled polyester to reduce detachment by approximately 40%, said Matt Dwyer, vice president of the footprint of global products. And in Textile Mills, there is a prewash in the factory that can capture that first great shed, he added.
Dwyer is optimistic about progress.
“There are many intelligent people, they not only understand the problem and scope of the problem, but also look for solutions to the manufacturing cycle and the use phase,” he said. “Compared to 10 years ago, it is a completely new world.”
___
Associated Press’s climatic and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards To work with philanthropies, a list of followers and coverage areas financed in Ap.org.
