Last week I talked about how important Natural Fibers are and why its important to pay attention to the fabric, clothes, and what things are made from. How can this possibly relate to the problems we are having in our oceans? Tiny fibers? What does that do? Its not really that big of deal, right? WRONG! Polyester, nylon, acrylic and other synthetic fibers (all of these are plastic, remember) are about 60% of the material that makes up our world.
There have been a lot of studies done as scientists try to figure out what we can do to save our planet. What are we getting wrong? How are human made fabrics contributing to the problem? Well, 85% of microfibers discovered on shorelines were man made materials commonly used in synthetic apparel (polyester and acrylic). But, how are they getting there? Its not because of the garbage patch in the ocean, though some will break down into tiny pieces. So, how is it happening?
By washing our clothes! A synthetic garment could release up to 1,900 microfibers when washed. A 6 kilogram wash load could release 700,000 microfibers. But, wait, I have lint screens. There are screens in all the machines, how could it possibly be the wash that I am doing (daily if you are like me and have kids)? Sure, our screens catch some, but most of the fibers are too small for the lint traps and screens we currently have on our washer and dryers. But all water is treated at waste facilities, doesn’t that help? Actually a good portion aren’t captured because they are just too small, are abnormal shapes and again there isn’t a filter made to capture them, so they end up in our oceans.
To get an idea, consider the lint you collect in the dryer. That lint is tiny bits of thread from your clothing. Synthetic fibers come off, but they’re so small and there is no filter inside our machines to catch them. Instead they go to the treatment plants. A population of 100,000 people would produce 1.02 kilos of fibers per DAY. That’s 793 lbs per year of individual, teeny, tiny plastic shards. Once its in our oceans there is no effective way to remove them. The microplastics can be like sponges, soaking up toxins in the water. 73% of fish caught at mid-ocean depths in the NW Atlantic ocean had microplastics in their stomach. That is a high number. Well it can’t be that bad! Unfortunately, it is. A 2014 study revealed that synthetic cellulose fibers or semi synthetic fibers, such as rayon was found in the deep sea. Another study revealed that fish consume nylon and rayon microfibers. Since a good portion of people eat fish and we are what we eat… we are eating plastic! Wherever scientist look they are finding plastic fibers contaminating our environment. They are the dominant source of plastic pollution found in surveys. Microplastics are found in sediment surrounding beaches, in mangrove groves and in arctic ice. Even in products we eat and drink. The average person ingests over 5,800 particles of synthetic debris in ONE YEAR. Most are plastic fibers.
In 2016, scientists performed tests on current washer and dryers. They fitted a whirlpool front loader with a special filter and collected the data. They found a polyester cotton blend T-shirt made 137,951 fibers from ONE load of wash. A polyester hoodie made 496,030 fibers in ONE wash. An acrylic sweater made 728,789 fibers from ONE load of wash. Unreal, right? Another study found that top loader machines released 7 times the microfibers, so improvements have been made. There are also a lot of factors that go into how many fibers are released, such as materials used, water temperature, detergent, fabric softener, how full the machine is, garment construction, to name a few.
Living in a city (Portland) surrounded by rivers, water is around us all the time. We play in it, we boat in it, water is a part of our NW life. How can we get a picture of what we are dealing with? A 2017 study of microplastic pollution was done along the shores of the Hudson River (New York City). The river transports 150 million plastic microfiber particles into the Atlantic ocean every day. Scientist are having a hard time figuring our if its from wastewater treatment plants or storm water runoff or just floated down from the air. Its sadly so enmeshed in our life, its hard to figure out where the source is when its everywhere.
And yes, not all mircroplastics that end up in the seas or oceans are from our washers, but it is a HUGE contribution. Okay, so really what can I do? One step is to make sure you have a front loader machine instead of a top loader. Another is to really look at what fabric, craft supplies, clothes, etc you are buying and consuming. Making sure to buy natural fiber products is really important. Even the polyester/cotton blend T-shirt was a much better choice. Scientists are working on creating better filters and screens. Sadly, a lot of damage is already done. Eliminating or reducing plastic is a good solution. Especially single use plastics. Reusable water bottles made from glass or metal, eliminating cling wrap and switching to beeswax food wraps, aluminum foil and other non plastic options. Making sure you buy quality and not quantity garments. Looking at what things are made from. I know I was shocked when I started looking at craft supplies. I can barely buy any yarn any more from the main craft stores because the yarn is 100% acrylic or polyester. I am having in invest in finding quality yarn stores that carry natural fibers. Though it doesn’t seem like it, making small changes does make a difference.
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