What’s the Environmental Impact of Doing Laundry?
Have you ever thought about the environmental impact of doing your laundry? Neither had I, until I started researching microfiber pollution. What I’ve learned is that the environmental impact of a load of laundry goes far beyond the issue of microfiber pollution. So let’s learn more:
Energy Use and Your Carbon Footprint
In most cases, we use electricity to wash and dry our clothing and generating this energy results in the emission of greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide (CO2). For each load of laundry we wash and dry, we add approximately 2.4 kg of CO2 to the atmosphere, contributing to our carbon footprint. We can help curb energy used during washing and drying by using energy efficient washing machine and dryers, simply laundering less and avoiding energy intensive tumble-drying.
About 90% of the energy used during clothes washing is used to heat wash water. By simply washing on colder settings, we can significantly reduce the amount of energy needed during laundering. In fact, we can save enough energy to power the Empire State Building for 444 years!
Almost a quarter of the water used in the average household goes to laundering clothes.
When we wash our clothes, we often use detergents, bleach and other chemicals. Our clothing can also contain chemicals, such as stain repellents and pollutants that accumulate on the material over time, that can be released during washing.
Heat, detergent use, and friction from mechanical action during washing and drying can cause damage to our clothing. Overtime, laundering can make the fibers that make up our clothing more brittle and cause microfiber release. In fact, hundreds of thousands of microfibers can be released to the environment every time we run a load of laundry.
Launder your clothes less often. If your clothing isn’t soiled, you can get more than one wear out of it. Laundering can be harsh on your clothing, so extend the life of your clothes by washing less often!
Cool temperatures. In most cases, hotter temperatures doesn’t result in cleaner clothes (click here for more on removing stains) and can damage fabric. Cool temperatures not only help protect our clothing, it also can result in significant energy savings.
Less detergent, fabric softener and/or bleach. These chemicals can end up in the environment after washing. Vary the amount of detergent you use based on how dirty your clothes are (less is more!).
Avoid tumble drying. Opt for line drying when possible. Plus drying outdoors can lead to fresher clothes!
Do not dry clean. Not only can it be costly, dry cleaning often involves the use of harsh chemicals and can be energy intensive due to increased need for transportation!
Read the label. Clothing labels can tell you the best practices for caring for your clothes. Extending the life of your clothing by protecting it from wear & tear and repairing it is important for preventing textile waste.
Install a filter. Washing machine filters are an easy way to stop microfiber pollution! Check out a recent study from our lab looking at different microfiber capture technologies.
Got tips or questions for stopping microfiber pollution? Post your comments and questions on my Ask Me About Microfiber Pollution page!