Beware of effect of a New Year bargain on the environment
Householders heading for the January sales for a fashion bargain need to be aware of the effect that cleaning new items can have on the environment, warns a Midlands energy expert.
Ron Fox, of Noreus Ltd, is backing a charity campaign to end the clothes industry’s throwaway culture after research showed washing fleeces and other synthetic clothes release 500,000 tonnes of microfibres into the seas every year, the equivalent to dumping 50 billion plastic bottles on the beach.
A report produced by the charity of record-breaking yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur and supported by designer Stella McCartney found that the microfibres are ingested by shellfish and plankton which can then ultimately be eaten by humans.
They said in the report “that we could end up eating our own clothes as the fibres re-enter the food chain.”
“I am pleased the Government has promised to ban microbeads in cosmetics,” said Ron, “but clothes produce 16 times as many damaging tiny plastic fibres that end up in the sea and so action is needed on this as well.”
He added that these microfibres were a bigger threat because, although plastic bottles can take many years to break down in the ocean, these fibres are too small to be filtered out by sewage plants.
Research showed that half of High Street fashion is dumped in under a year and that while the amount of clothing bought has doubled in 15 years the number of times an item is worn has fallen by 20 per cent.
The charity is calling on shoppers to wear clothes for longer, look for recycled fabrics and consider renting outfits rather than buying them.
It wants more items to be recycled as 50 per cent of the clothes sent to landfill in the UK could be re-used compared to the one per cent at present.
They also want more work to be carried out into a “super fibre” that is easy to recycle and does not pollute the seas and to change the increasingly disposable design of clothing.
Ron said that a study found that more than 700,000 microfibres can be flushed into the drains from a single washing machine load of synthetic fibres.
Although 63 per cent of the material used globally to makes clothes is plastic, cotton accounts for 26 per cent and other materials 11 per cent.
He added that although cotton poses less risk to marine life it was harder to recycle and can cause greater overall damage to the environment because cotton farming needs vast amounts of water, uses many pesticides and takes up 2.5 per cent of all arable land.
“If you want any energy advice contact me on 01782 756995 or go to www.noreus.co.uk – but in the meantime have a green and happy New Year,” said Ron.
