Waste
Cheap Product ... Nig Negative Impact

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife FLEECING THE FISH ... Don’t look now but you’re shedding plastic

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife FLEECING THE FISH Don’t look now but you’re shedding plastic

Fleece-wearers beware.

Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara found that a single fleece jacket can lose as many as 250,000 synthetic fibers, or 1.7 grams of plastic, in the laundry — which adds up. All those fibers travel from your washing machine into your local wastewater treatment plant, where 40 percent end up in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Researchers found these microfibers all over the planet, from the bottom of the Indian Ocean to Midwestern farmland.

The study, which was funded by Patagonia, estimates that the amount of fibers that are released into waterways each year could be equivalent of nearly 12,000 plastic grocery bags. And like plastic bags, microfibers break down and eventually wind up in the gastrointestinal tracts of fish — and the humans that eat them. These plastics absorb pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a neurotoxin and hormone disrupter.

Even Patagonia and other clothing manufacturers that use recycled microplastics in their garments don’t avoid shedding little bits of it into the ocean.

For more on the big impact our synthetic clothing addiction has on the planet, watch our video on below.

Why your $8 shirt is a huge problem

Published on Mar 1, 2016

https://youtu.be/8_oY-5hpt3Q

We know you don’t want to talk about your impulse shopping habit, but we kind of have to. As hard as all those peplum tops and baseball tees are on your wallet (and your closet feng shui), they’re even harder on the planet — but wait! We promise we’re not trying to sell you an all-hemp wardrobe.

Instead, we’re offering you the easiest option imaginable to cut down on your carbon footprint. Watch our video above to learn more.

Grist Grist Subscribe5,697 Add to Share More 33,105 views 176 6

Transcript

English 0:00 Every year, Americans buy 20 billion new items of clothing 0:04 and send 10 million tons of clothing to the dump. 0:07 We're basically on a merry-go-round of making 0:09 and buying and getting rid of clothes. 0:15 Tell me if this sounds familiar: 0:18 You're at a store -- any store that sells pretty cheap clothes. Let's call it: 0:22 Borever Bunty Bun. 0:24 You try on a shirt. It's fine. It fits OK. It has a print that 0:28you like well enough, I guess. But it's on sale for $8, so why not buy it? 0:33You take it home where it sits in your dresser for a couple of days. 0:36You wear it once, twice, three times, 0:38and then it slowly sinks to the bottom of the drawer, 0:42underneath all of the clothes you like better. 0:44You find it a year later -- maybe two -- 0:46when you're konmari-ing your room. 0:48You put all the clothes you don't anymore 0:51in a giant bag and take it to the local thrift store. 0:52They accept 4 items out of the bag, offering you about $3.16 in store credit. 0:59You throw the rest -- including that t-shirt -- 1:01into the dumpster behind the store 1:04Annoying, but no big deal right? It was only $8? 1:08But that's kind of the issue. 1:11 That shirt didn't cost you very much at all, but it costs the planet quite a bit. 1:16 to the tune of 1320 gallons of water and approximately nine pounds of carbon 1:21 dioxide and its production and transportation alone. 1:24 That's to say nothing of the terrible working conditions that the people who make most 1:28 of our clothes endure. 1:29 Earning next to nothing in extremely unsafe factories, 1:32 perpetuating a cycle of poverty in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world. 1:36 yeah that's a lot of resources for one sh**ty shirt. 1:40 Now that you don't wear it anymore, we can call it what it was. 1:43 So, what's the answer? 1:46First, by less. Congratulations, you found the easiest, 1:50laziest way to lower your carbon footprint it's not doing something and 1:52and not spending money. 1:55And you'll look fabulous doing it. 1:57Second, shop smarter. When you decide that you do really, truly need something new, 2:02just try not to shop at the Borever Bunty Buns of the world. 2:05Look for brands that practice good labor and sourcing. 2:08Third, look for durability and good design. 2:11Choosing where to buy your clothes is just as crucial as what 2:14clothes you buy. Namely, clothes that you'll wear over and over again for a long time. 2:18It's important that they don't fall apart but equally so that they won't 2:22want dated and dumb in a few months. 2:24If you buy the most carbon-conscious jumpsuit ever created 2:27but never wear it -- it's still wasted material. 2:30But if you wear that jumpsuit over and over again for years, 2:32you're getting way more out of what you paid for it. 2:34Fourth, don't trash your fash. 2:37Clothes take up way too much space in landfills and 42% of cotton fibers is carbon, 2:43which gets released as it decomposes. week 2:45Take that shit to the Goodwill or Salvation Army 2:47and even if they reject them -- which they might -- charity thrift stores are 2:51actually overwhelmed by the amount of secondhand clothes they receive. 2:54Look for a textile recycling program near you, or hell, turn them into rags. 2:58That will really come in handy with the whole kon-mari thing. 3:01Fifth, get a little dirty. 3:03The other secret to having a low impact wardrobe 3:06Is don't wash your clothes as much. 3:08No, seriously -- not only will they last longer 3:11but over eighty percent of the energy consumption of a garment 3:15can be attributed to washing and drying it. 3:16In the end cheap fashion is kind of like the Donald Trump of industries 3:20It's everywhere you look and it's not hard to realize that it's 3:24obnoxious, really bad for the environment, 3:26and comes in a terrible shade of orange.

Category Film & Animation License Standard YouTube License SHOW LESS COMMENTS • 22