Plastic Fibers
Did you know that many of our clothes are composed of polyester and polar fleece, two ‘fabrics’ that are completely made from synthetic fibers such as polyethylene terephthalate, a kind of plastic?
Most of these fabrics have been treated with detergents, petrochemical dyes (even more plastic), formaldehyde, bleach and a host of other additives that are toxic to both humans and the environment. So what should we do?
Look for these instead:
- Cotton
- Tencel
- Silk
- Linen
- Hemp
- Wool
- Cashmere
According to The Guardian , researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara found that, on average, synthetic fleece jackets release 1.7 grams of microfibers each wash. It also found that older jackets shed almost twice as many fibers as new jackets.
“These microfibers then travel to your local wastewater treatment plant, where up to 40% of them enter rivers, lakes and oceans,” according to findings published on the researchers’ website.
