Fleece Bad For the Environment/Planet?
I just read an Editorial article in our newspaper regarding fleece that was news to me. If it is true, it is definitely a case against the use of fleece in our quilting. I am curious if anyone else has read about this??
According to the author, James Greiff, fleece was originally thought to be 'green' because it is made from recycled plastic bottles--better in fleece than in the landfill. However it is 'green' UNTIL it is run through the washing machine, which is when thousands of plastic microfibers get flushed into the sewer system and on to our streams, lakes, rivers and ocean. Fleece is polyester, which is not biodegradable, it is made from oil and like most plastic almost immune to the elements. These tiny bits of plastic end up being consumed by small fish and filter feeders like oysters and clams. The stuff can make it up the food chain and potentially into people. He says scientists are currently trying to figure out how much of a risk this is to human health. Also PCBs and other contaminants tend to stick to microfibers like these. One team of researchers gathered sand from 18 beaches on six continents, and none were free of microfibers: highest concentrations were at beaches around cities, where lots of people are washing clothes!
Another major source of microscopic plastic waste are microbeads---those little granules in your body scrub, soap and toothpaste. Those tiny bits of plastic end up the same way. Microbeads are covering the bottoms of the Great Lakes, California has banned the use of microbeads starting in 2020 and New Jersey is too.
No one is expecting states to ban fleece at this time. Some possible solutions are special washing machine filters, changes in the way fleece is manufactured to prevent this shedding when washed, changes to the municipal sewage treatment systems to capture these microfibers. Cotton and wool shed microfibers too, but those fibers are biodegradable. He suggests one possible thing to do for now is keep your fleece, but just don't wash it until it is really, really dirty!!
I don't use fleece much, but this was interesting food for thought, and an issue to keep our eyes on.