Bad news for environment-conscious sportswear lovers

bella

http://www.bostonglobe.com/bus.....pollution/

"Yoga pants other garments made from synthetic materials shed microscopic plastic fibers — called ‘‘microfibers’’ — when laundered. Wastewater systems flush the microfibers into natural waterways, eventually reaching the sea. "

8 years ago

Shopping

18 replies

Latest reply was from cindysmith

Sal

Veteran

Oh gosh, I need to look into that. I have been conscious about packaging and microbeads in face scrubs but not on top of this at all.

8 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Oh phooey. Should have known. I knew about the problem coming from landfills...

8 years ago

Anonymous

The saddens me tremendously.

8 years ago

Staysfit

Veteran

Uh oh! Back to cotton and wool!

8 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Another reason NOT to wear gear! Wooohoooo. I'm in. LOVE yoga - but I hate wearing the clothes. And sad to hear about the sea pollution.

8 years ago

LaPed

Veteran

Yeah, I've known about this issue for a while, and am always looking to remove unnecessary plastics from my life. A good organization doing a lot of work around this is the Rozalia Project based in Portland, ME. I know they're trying to develop technologies that can remove microfilaments from the water. I've donated to them and would love to volunteer with them someday.

As of this year, I've pretty much committed to avoiding synthetics in clothing unless they're absolutely necessary. It's hard, because my hobbies (backpacking, and bike and canoe camping) are pretty gear-intensive. Not just clothes, but things like tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, etc. The easiest switch is using merino or silk for tops and baselayers (even though I love my heattech and capilene I probably won't replace them when they wear out). I've already more or less quit polar fleece; it doesn't perform particularly well and gets so pilly and stinky. Pants are harder, though - I don't mind wearing jeans or chinos for a quick hike, but you really can't take them on a multi-day trip, and merino pants I've found are not durable enough for anything but light jogging or yoga -- and not comfortable in hot weather. So for now I'll hang onto my old nylon pants and shorts and hope someone develops some amazing new technologies in the next few years.

Casual wear is easier. It means choosing 100% cotton denim rather than synthetic blends. It means avoiding poly in tops, dresses, and blouses. Which eliminates a lot of options and probably saves me money in the long run. No ponte fabrics for me -- I've decided it's not a need. However, the ecological impact of cotton, especially non-organic, is pretty high too. Linen and hemp are better.

For yoga and running this summer, I'm going to experiment with the hemp jersey "gear" from Conscious Clothing, a small company in Michigan. For everyday fitness, it seems like it could work, as long as it doesn't stretch out too much. I did try backpacking in a hemp/linen dress several years ago, but I don't think I'll do that again...

8 years ago

Anonymous

LePedestrienne and Bella, thank you for the information. I will avoid synthetics. I don't wear gear but see it everywhere. This is a good reason not to start. I have never really been able to sweat ( glisten), a bad thing in hot weather but easier on clothing.

8 years ago

barbaraq

Active Member

Here in Seattle there is a relatively new policy to keep textiles out of the landfills. We are asked to bundle all waste textiles and drop them off at designated places such as the Goodwill. As a sewist, I was shocked at the amount of scrap I was generating. This policy if widely adopted would go far to keep bad synthetic fibers out of our natural resources.

8 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

I live in the Great Basin, so anything that our clothes shed does not go to the ocean, but instead would go to Pyramid Lake. Not that that's any better!

8 years ago

Sal

Veteran

Yes I guess it is not just gear, but other synthetics too.

I am not sure if there is anything you can do whilst washing yourself with the filters, but I suspect not as they are microfibres.

I plan to investigate this for myself - we do have to wear clothes, and wash them, and having less items (while good in other ways) does not stop this issue. I don't have any fleece myself but have plenty of dryfit tops, yoga pants and other gear type pants. And some polyester or blended fabric blouses and tops, skirts, pants, dresses etc

ETA: Looked at your link La Pedestrienne to the Rozalia project - that is excellent and explains the issue very well.

8 years ago

LaPed

Veteran

Kiwigal -- there's something in development called, I think, a "nanoball" - the idea is a device that can be placed in the washing machine and left there to collect the microfilaments. Another option is to develop an integrated filter and require washing machine manufacturers to put it in their machines. For textile manufacturers, the research is primarily on creating coatings that could keep the fibres from shedding, and to a lesser degree, figuring out how to manipulate non-plastic-based fibres to get them to behave more like synthetics.

For now I think the best answer is washing synthetics as little as possible -- which means wearing them as little as possible, since they get quite gross after not much wear.

The MERMAID project (based in the EU) has a list of good practices for consumers when it comes to laundering synthetics:
http://life-mermaids.eu/en/what-can-you-do-en/

"With small changes in your washing habits, you can reduce the amount of fibres you shed:

Fill up your washing machine to the max: washing a full load results in less friction between the clothes and, therefore, less fibres are released.
Use washing liquid instead of powder: the ‘scrub’ function of the grains of the powder result in loosening the fibres of clothes more than with liquid.
Use a fabric softener: some ingredients in fabric softeners reduce friction between fibres so the release decreases.
Wash at a low temperature: when clothes are washed at a high temperature some fabrics are damaged, leading to the release of fibres.
Avoid long washings: long periods of washing cause more friction between fabrics, which supposes more tearing of the fibres.
Dry spin clothes at low revs: higher revolutions increase the friction between the clothes, resulting in higher chances of fibres loosening.
Avoid buying synthetic clothes and look for wool, cotton, linen, silk, cashmere or other natural fabrics."

A stop-gap, for sure, but guilt-assuaging and a good exercise in mindfulness.

8 years ago

LaPed

Veteran

A couple more quick links and then I have to run:

Keep an eye out for Guppyfriend laundry bags -- they're supposed to be available sometime this spring from Patagonia (online and in their stores): http://guppyfriend.com/stop-mi.....riend/news

Pata did a long, comprehensive blog post on this just a few weeks ago. http://www.patagonia.com/blog/.....pollution/

8 years ago

Sal

Veteran

Thanks La Pedestrienne. I do half the things on the list - I can change to a liquid and could use softener (always thought the less added the better). I wash in cold or very cool water 90% of the time, with a full machine, and line dry.

8 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Good laundry tips. Still depressing tho. Cotton has problems too. Ranching (wool) has problems ... but maybe the least at this point.

8 years ago

Carla

Veteran

2 of my yoga teachers don't wear synthetic gear! The male teacher wears cotton pants that look like the bottoms of a Gi and a t-shirt. The woman wears baggy harem style trousers in woven cotton from a local ethnic outfit store and t-shirts and sweaters. They must be on yo something...

8 years ago

Greyscale

Veteran

I greatly prefer cotton for gear, but it can be hard to find. My favorite cotton workout capris are a style that the Gap seems to have discontinued. (I do feel bad about cotton farming too.)

8 years ago

Echo

Veteran

Ah, yes, I have been aware of this for about 20 years. I worked in the printing industry, and while in the plant we were required to wear uniforms (though I often travelled to bring print samples to customers). The biggest contaminant we had in terms of printing was teeny-tiny bits of blue plastic - our uniforms were blue polyester. These thread-like filaments were everywhere, so it would have been naive to assume they did not enter the waterways, as well.

But gear is certainly far from the only culprit. The vast majority of women's clothing, from jeans to dresses to swimwear and underwear, contains some amount of artificial fiber to improve fit. I doubt most women would go back to wearing the 100% cotton cardboard jeans I wore as a child. Granted, at least they now come pre-washed, and so are softened, but most of the population will simply not wear clothes that don't move with them to some extent.

8 years ago

cindysmith

Veteran

It makes me sad to clean the lint filter in my dryer because that's all just tiny bits of our clothes in there (mixed with dog hair to add some flavor LOL)

A friend was visiting us, and used our laundry machines. She cleaned the lint filter in the dryer and started towards the compost bucket. I had to ask her if she was sure there were no synthetic fibers in it because those won't compost. She couldn't say for sure so she just put it in the trash, which isn't really any better. What on Earth should I do with that stuff? Time for a Google search.

8 years ago

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