How to Care for your Clothing in an Environmentally Friendly Way

June 10, 2019

There are various ways in which washing clothing can cause harm to the environment. When we’ve invested money into garments, we want to ensure we take great care of them to be sure that they will last, but you can still do this while being environmentally friendly, you just have to make a few simple changes. Read on to find out how to care for your clothing in an environmentally friendly way…

 

How Washing Clothing Harms the Environment

 

It’s commonly known that it’s better for the environment to wash clothing on a cool wash, but did you know that there are other elements beside the heat of your wash that could negatively impact the planet? Phosphates, optical brighteners in detergent and microfibres created through the process of washing clothing can all be bad for the environment too.

 

Phosphates, found in washing powders, are chemical compounds that pollute the water. They also create algae blooms and starve fish of oxygen. Phosphates make detergents more effective, but that doesn’t mean to say that eco-friendly detergents don’t work well, meaning the use of phosphates isn’t entirely necessary.

 

Optical brighteners are also used in detergents. They are a chemical used to make clothing look whiter and brighter. This is achieved by absorbing UV rays and radiating them back to the human eye. Optical brighteners don’t help with the cleaning process or physically make clothing brighter, essentially all they do is create an optical illusion.

 

While this chemical might be clever, again it’s use isn’t entirely necessary. Optical brighteners don’t biodegrade, which means when they get into waste water through the process of washing, they remain in it for a long time. They then bioaccumulate into aquatic life.

 

Finally, microfibres, which are tiny particles of under 5mm, are also causing a problem. Washing around 6 kg of clothing can result in anything between 137,951 and 728,789 fibres released as oceanic pollution. These microfibres can be ingested by fish larvae, and studies are still being carried out into the effects of this on the food chain.

 

 

A Few Simple Fixes

 

To avoid adding to the problem, one of the easiest ways to overcome part of the issue is to choose an eco-friendly detergent, as well as always washing at 30.

 

This is just half of the problem though, as microfibres are being released into water waste by almost all of us every time we wash our clothing. This can easily be combatted though, by using a GuppyFriend washing bag to stop microfibres from getting into water waste.

 

Washing bags work by reducing shedding and protecting clothing, while also filtering the few fibres that do break off during washing. With every wash, countless plastic fibres from synthetic materials make their way from our washing machines into the ocean and rivers, the GuppyFriend washing bag stops this.

 

When it comes to caring for your Kosmos clothing, we recommend using a cold wash, an eco-friendly detergent, and using a washing bag to keep your clothing in great condition, while being mindful of the environment.

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