Researchers have discovered that waste from the global apparel industry is leaking millions of tons of plastic into the environment each year and may be getting worse over time.
When was this overlooked? Maybe you overlooked it but there have been articles on it for years.
Linen my beloved, polyester can rot in hell.
here’s another reason why you’re all gonna die!
In the pile with the others…
Ironically one of the few industries who could actually use recycled plastic
Clothing shouldn’t be made with plastic in the first place. Synthetic fibers suck ass.
Tell that to rain coats.
Fabric can be made water-resistant without plastic.
While this is slightly off topic, they do, and clothes made with recycled plastic contain even higher levels of BPA and BPS than clothes of virgin plastic. Some-to-most bisphenols are removed after washing (BPS more than BPA) but they still either go into the wastewater stream or get absorbed through the skin when wearing.
Between microplastic shedding, bisphenol leakage, and general cross-contamination, most recycled plastics are just more toxic versions of virgin plastics.
Well wtf man
Hmm. I guess we’re just fucked.
I forgot my bags at the grocery store, so I told the clerk I’d like to buy one of their expensive plastic bags. She denied they had plastic bags anymore. I explained polyester. She was shocked.
People have no clue. Nylon, PVC, PET, spandex, and the most insane, vegan leather. Turns out, polyurethane is not made out of vegans.
It’s hardly overlooked. It’s been widely known for many years that cheap fast fashion is one of the worlds worst pollutants. Stop buying from shein, h&m, tkmax, and all the others. Buy quality clothing that will last a few years at least.
Even the Patagonia polar fleece is a fucking horrible microplastic shredder.
This is nothing new, nor overlooked, you are precisely correct. For Example: Aug 2023: 10 Concerning Fast Fashion Waste Statistics https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/
Nov 2022: The environmental costs of fast fashion https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/environmental-costs-fast-fashion
Feb 2019: Fashion has a huge waste problem. Here’s how it can change https://www.weforum.org/stories/2019/02/how-the-circular-economy-is-redesigning-fashions-future/
Yeah I’ve known about this for at least 4 years. I no longer buy North Face fleeces (my favorite garments 😢) because they shed microplastics while doing laundry.
It was years before I knew that polyester was even a plastic that can give off toxic chemicals or micro plastics.
