On the photo: A protestor stands near a pile of plastic bottles in a march to demand the drastic reduction in global plastic production ahead of INC-3, in the streets of Nairobi, Kenya, 11 November 2023
When attempting to live more sustainably, we frequently consider the significance of decreasing single-use plastics such as straws, plastic bottles, and bags. That is something we should be cautious about, especially because it is simple to avoid using them if you set your mind to it. However, plastic is lurking in areas you may not have considered.
What's the big deal with plastic garments if they're recycled? Some businesses do recycle, which is a terrific way to repurpose old garments. However, we should not just consider what happens to our garments once they have served their purpose, but also how they are created and how we care for them while they are still in our closet.
Synthetic materials are popular because they are inexpensive and adaptable (they can be used to make winter coats warm as well as provide breathability in sports clothes), but their environmental effect is something we cannot ignore and must consider when purchasing clothing. There are several reasons why fashion sustainability is critical, and selecting eco-friendly textiles is part of our responsibilities as conscientious shoppers.
Your clothing is most likely comprised of plastic: which materials should you avoid?
WHY ARE PLASTIC FABRICS BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?
Plastic accounts for about 60% of our clothing. That is a large number! Approximately 63% of garment materials are virgin polymers, with recycled textiles accounting for the remaining 3%. To fully assess its sustainability, it is also necessary to consider the fact that plastic is dependent on the exploitation of fossil fuels.
Every year, around 100 billion pieces of clothing are made worldwide. According to the EPA, the creation of textiles in the United States in 2018 was 17 million tons, implying that about 10.2 million tons of plastic clothing are produced yearly in the United States. The EPA documented 11.3 million tons of textile trash in the United States in 2018, accounting for 7.7% of total municipal solid garbage.
These figures illustrate that the amount of clothing created each year is insane, and the vast majority is discarded and ends up in a landfills. We may deduce that we have a problem since more than half of them are made of plastic, which does not biodegrade and takes years to break apart.
Another major reason why synthetic garments are not ecologically friendly is that washing them pollutes the ocean. When we wash our garments, friction and shedding cause little synthetic fibers to fall off, which the machine's filter cannot collect. As a result, they move via sewage water and may end up as microplastics in the ocean or rivers, where they are consumed by marine creatures and people (by seafood or tap water, for example). Laundry accounts for 35% of the major microplastics released into the world's seas.
Over 5 trillion plastic bits weighing over 250,000 tons drift at sea, with microplastics accounting for 35,500 tons. Because there are more microplastics in the water than straws (around 2,000 tons of straws in the ocean), focusing our sustainability efforts on the fashion sector is critical.
By 2025, there will be one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish in the waters, and by 2050, the weight of plastic will exceed that of fish. Mark Anthony Browne, an environmentalist, was the first to determine in 2011 that 85% of the human-made materials detected on the shorelines were microfibers that matched the sorts of material used in apparel. He also demonstrated that a single garment may generate almost 1,900 fibers every wash.
THE MOST WELL-KNOWN SYNTHETIC FABRICS
Polyester, acrylic, and nylon are three of the most common plastic-based synthetic textiles. As I previously stated, they are an issue at every stage of the process, from manufacture to usage to disposal.
A 6kg wash of acrylic yields an estimated 728,789 fibers, whereas a 6kg wash of polyester yields 496,030. A polyester-cotton combination will emit about 138,000. They shed more fibers when they are fresh new and start releasing less (but still a lot) after the second wash.
POLYESTER
Polyester (polyethylene terephthalate) is a synthetic fabric made from petroleum-based compounds generated from fossil fuels, which are both non-renewable resources and major polluters. Every year, an estimated 342 million barrels of oil are consumed to make plastic-based textiles for the fashion industry. Polyester accounts for 52% of the total fiber market and around 80% of synthetic fibers, contributing to overproduction.
It has negative environmental repercussions at every stage of its existence, which we must grasp to adopt more sustainable fashion choices. Many harmful compounds and heavy metals are discharged into the environment during the refining of crude oil into petroleum and the production of ethylene, damaging the air, water, and land. It also needs a large quantity of energy and resources, including water, to be created. Furthermore, a unique sort of dye is necessary to color polyester, which intoxicates animals, plants, and dye workers. When a consumer uses a polyester product, microfibers are discharged into the sewage, and then into the seas.
Even though polyester clothing lasts a long time and is readily laundered, it contaminates water over time and survives longer in landfills than a human can wear it. The majority of polyesters are not biodegradable and will degrade in up to 200 years, leaving poisons behind.
ACRYLIC
Acrylic is a synthetic fiber composed of polymers manufactured by acrylonitrile or vinyl cyanide, both of which are derived from fossil fuels. Because of its heat-retention properties, it is utilized for warmer clothing.
Its manufacturing, like that of polyester, is primarily reliant on the petrochemical sector and fossil fuel extraction, and it is responsible for leaking dangerous chemicals into the environment and endangering industrial workers. Acrylic fibers use 40% more energy than polyester fibers. Regarding its polluting properties during use, it is one of the most polluting during laundry, as an average 6-kilogram wash load of acrylic fabric may release over 700,000 fibers.
Acrylic is likewise not biodegradable and may take up to 200 years to decompose; it is also not recyclable. Another extremely significant factor to consider is that wearing it might be dangerous. Acrylic's major constituent, acrylonitrile, can enter the body by skin absorption, inhalation, and ingestion, causing a variety of symptoms such as headache, nausea, and cancer.
NYLON
Nylon is the third synthetic fabric we'll look at since it's a form of plastic derived from crude oil and petroleum (non-renewable energy), and it accounts for around 12% of all synthetic textiles. Tights are a popular nylon product, and to get that elasticity, the product must go through extensive chemical procedures that are hazardous to the environment. Nylon production emits nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in warming the environment, and it consumes ludicrous quantities of resources, mostly water and energy. This fabric is also one of the most energy-intensive, requiring twice as much energy to make than polyester.
Nylon manufacture is low-cost, as is its quality, which means it is readily broken and, as a result, is not sustainable. A garment with a short lifespan is unsustainable since it supports the rapid fashion cycle and increases the volume of clothing in landfills, but this material is also non-biodegradable. It might take between 30 and 40 years for nylon to degrade. Because it is treated with hazardous chemicals and dyes, and even bleached, it is damaging to the environment when created and disposed of, and it pollutes water throughout the manufacturing process. When laundered, nylon, like polyester and acrylic, releases microplastics into the water. /BGNES