Did you know that the MAJOR SOURCE of OCEAN PLASTIC POLLUTION is due to our CLOTHES?
Read the below link before directly jumping into this article-
It’s no secret that too many of the plastic products we use end up in the ocean. But people might not be aware of one major source of that pollution i.e., the clothes we wear.
Polyester, Nylon, Acrylic, and other synthetic fibers — all of which are forms of plastic are now about 60 percent of the material that makes up our clothes worldwide. Synthetic plastic fibers are cheap and extremely versatile, providing for stretch and breathability in athleisure, and warmth and sturdiness in winter clothes.
These fibers contribute to ocean plastic pollution in a subtle but pervasive way. The fabrics they make along with synthetic-natural blends leach into the environment just by being washed. Estimates vary, but it’s possible that a single load of laundry could release hundreds of thousands of fibers from our clothes into the water supply.
And these tiny fibers less than 5 millimeters in length, with diameters measured in micrometers (one-thousandth of a millimeter) can eventually reach the ocean. In the oceans, they’re adding to the micro plastic pollution that’s accumulating in the food chain and being ingested by all sorts of marine wildlife, and even us. Most of the plastic that’s in the ocean, in terms of number of pieces, is not in the form of whole products like cups or straws, but instead broken-down shreds of plastic.
Think about how many people are washing their clothes on a daily basis, and how many clothes we all have? Even when we’re walking around, not washing our clothes, tiny fibers are falling off. It’s everywhere.
As we seek solutions to the overall issue of plastic pollution, we need to recognize that our clothing is a major part of the problem and will need to be part of the solution as well.
Much of the micro plastic problem is a plastic clothing problem
Consider the lint we collect in the clothes dryer. That lint is tiny bits of thread from our clothing that have become dislodged and are caught by a mesh screen.
Similarly, synthetic fibers come off in the wash but they’re so small, and there’s no filter inside the machines to catch them. Instead, these tiny plastic fibers pass through to sewage treatment plants, which often don’t have filters fine enough to catch them. Treated wastewater is then often dumped into rivers or the sea, carrying plastic clothing fibers with it
A study was made on the following-
Tested swatches of three types of fabric:
- A polyester-cotton blend T-shirt,
- A polyester hoodie, and
- An acrylic sweater.
After a few washes (all garments shed more when they are brand new), the acrylic fabric shed the most, followed by the polyester, and then the poly-cotton blend.
And even if the amount of plastic shed per load is small, measured in milligrams, it adds up. If “a population of 100,000 people would produce approximately 1.02 kilograms of fibers each day.” That’s 793 pounds per year of individual, teeny-tiny plastic shards.
And once plastics are in the ocean environment, there’s no effective way to remove them.
These tiny plastic particles can find their ways into the diets of marine life and accumulate throughout the food chain. A recent study found around 73 percent of fish caught at mid-ocean depths had micro plastic in their stomachs. Even the animals that live in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, are eating microfibers.
It’s hard to say how much micro plastics from textiles contributes to the overall plastic pollution problem in the ocean. Regardless of the exact proportion, fibers are an important contributor to plastic pollution.
Plastics can take hundreds of years, possibly millennia, to degrade. The plastic we throw into the ocean now will remain for generations.
Use of Natural Fibers is always a better solution to stop the ocean pollution, but is our responsibility to make it affordable to the common man
Don’t miss the next concluding article-
- What are the solutions to these problems,
- Are there any solutions at all?
- How badly are humans being affected by this problem? and much more..
For more information,
People can get in touch with me in LinkedIN, Facebook, Instagram
PK,
PK Enterprises.
No comments:
Post a Comment