Plastic free July – Your laundry

Microfiber wash bag

By Sarah Phillips

Every second breath we take is made by the ocean. Oceans are the lungs of the earth. Microplastics are killing off the plants in the ocean that are making the air we breathe.

Microplastics are in our clothing. Anything made from polyester, nylon and acrylic or fleece contains microfibers. 

When synthetic clothing is washed, the fibers can become loosened and that’s when the microplastics get in the wash and eventually in our oceans.

There are things you can do to help prevent the plastic microfibers from being released into the wash water.

A wash bag made to capture microfibers is one way. When doing the laundry just put all your synthetics in the bag. Another solution is a laundry ball that collects microfibers.

A full load of laundry saves water and energy. Apparently, it creates less friction between the clothing items and that too reduces the amount of microplastics being released. The amount of microplastics decreases after each time the clothing is washed.

Laundry detergent sheets

Washing new clothes also releases more of the plastic microfibers than your old clothes. Research shows that more microfibers are shed in the first eight washes. 

That means extending the lifespan of the garments you already own helps keep microfibers out of the wash.

Perhaps the best way to prevent microplastics from getting into our oceans is to install a filter on your washing machine. 

Some filters have been reported to capture 90% of the microfibers from your laundry.

Being conscious of microfibers in our laundry is one way to reduce plastics and save our oceans. 

Then of course there is laundry detergent. Liquid detergent is mostly water, and to hold all that liquid, it often comes in a large plastic jug. Yet, if we eliminate the water, we can have liquidless eco sheets, detergent packets. 

Earth Breeze and Tru Earth are two brands of detergent sheets. They’re available at lots of stores and can be part of a subscription service. Best of all, the cardboard container they come in can be composted.