Yesterday was the last day of #plasticfreejuly – let’s talk microplastics 101. A few days ago, I shared a post on my Instagram about microplastics in clothing. Today, I am sharing more information on the blog.
What are microplastics?
First, we have to talk about what microplastics are. Simply put, microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic. They are smaller than 5 millimeters, so we cannot see them.
You’re probably thinking: “Okay, but what does that have to do with my clothes?” Well, a lot of your clothes are probably made from plastic. Plastic makes up over 50% of all the clothes in the world. This means that many of our clothes (polyester, nylon, acrylic, etc.) contain microplastics.
Why are they bad?
Microplastics are wreaking havoc on the oceans and marine life. Synthetic fabrics pollute the ocean – when we wash our clothes, microfibers release into water and eventually make their way to the ocean. Experts estimate that over 14 million tons of microplastics are on the ocean floor. Yikes.
So, what can we can do?
While we can’t fix the microplastic problem overnight, we can take a few simple steps.
- First, try to go for natural fiber clothes when you shop. Think organic cotton, linen, etc. I always check the fabric contents when shopping, whether it’s new or secondhand. You can find this information on the inside tag of the garment. Plus, most websites have the fabric contents on the description. However, synthetic fibers are often more affordable and are literally everywhere. It’s not realistic to stop buying them altogether. So, just try to avoid them when you can.
- Second, wash your clothes only when necessary. We tend to wash our clothes more often than we need to. I recommend researching the fabric to learn about how often you should wash it.
- Finally, consider adding a microplastic filter to your washing machine or get a Guppy Bag. This will help divert microplastics from the water supply.
Thanks for reading my post on microplastics 101. I hope you found it insightful. Let me know if there is anything that I should have included in this post or if there was anything about this information that surprised you.
Thanks for reading!
Kyndal
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