80% of ocean Microplastics come from washing clothes
Research has shown that over 80% of microplastic pollution found in the ocean comes from plastic microfibres.
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Microplastics pollution has reached every part of the planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans and rivers and lakes .
We know that microfiber pollution mainly comes from wastewater from developed nations. |
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Microfibres have the potential to poison the food chain as they are readily consumed by fish and other wildlife and by a process called bioaccumulation concentrate in larger animal, both in the ocean (even turtles ) and on land.
They have already even been found in the placentas of unborn babies and potentially could be linked to the epidemic of reduced fertility worldwide .
Every time we wash our clothes hundreds of thousands of microscopic plastic fibres are released into the wastewater. Because washing machines don't have filters to catch them, all these small plastic particles end up in wastewater and travel down the drain. They pollute the environment, harm ecosystems, and end up in our food and drinking water. Every year in Australia somewhere between 400-4000 tonnes of microfibres pollute our ocean environment from washing our clothes.
The Australian federal government recently announced that all washing machines sold must have a suitable filter fitted by 2030 .
But that means we will still be polluting the oceans with microfibres for at least another twenty years.
But that means we will still be polluting the oceans with microfibres for at least another twenty years.
We need to do more. Now.
That’s why Clean Ocean Foundation has joined with Planetcare, a European organisation that produces an award-winning filter easily fitted to existing washing machines.
Clean Ocean Foundation will make these filters available very soon in Australia.
Clean Ocean Foundation’s will ensure these filters are integrated into a fully circular, closed loop solution, so no plastic re-enters the Australian environment.
Register your interest in getting a filter when they become available in Australia here:
References:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X16310116
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/20/plastic-pollution-mariana-trench-deepest-point-ocean
https://www.geochemicalperspectivesletters.org/article1829/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328796380_Abundance_Distribution_and_Drivers_of_Microplastic_Contamination_in_Urban_River_Environments
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.180667
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.14519
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/20/microfibers-plastic-pollution-oceans-patagonia-synthetic-clothes-microbeads
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/28/shanna-swan-fertility-reproduction-count-down https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/youre-literally-eating-microplastics-how-you-can-cut-down-exposure-to-them/2019/10/04/22ebdfb6-e17a-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html
https://planetcare.org/pages/washing-clothes-pollutes-oceans-with-microplastics
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237839
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/04/polystyrene-to-be-phased-out-next-year-under-australias-plastic-waste-plan
