When you wash your textiles and clothes the process causes the fibers coming out from the fabric. This is a natural process of the washing. We all who wash clothes are familiar with the phenomenon. It makes our clothes and textiles to have lint on the fabric. Some lint gets stuck on the fabric and some wash away by the water used in the process.
That loose lint is micro fiber. It goes through the washing machine, drains and end up to the water treatment plants and from there at some point it ends up to the water cycle of the world. So, at the end it ends up into the seas. If these micro fibers are organic (nature fibers) its better because then they have a change to compost and turn back to soil. But if not, that is a huge problem.
Today we can buy many garments and textiles made of recycled plastic. We think it is sustainable but actually it is not. Because during the washing process also these fabrics face the same that all the others. Micro fibers come out of the fabric. And, unfortunately, if the fabric is made of recycled (or new) plastic (=oil) the micro fibers that come out from the fabric are plastic. That's also how -at the end- micro plastic ends up into the seas and even human body.
Already in 2016 and 2017 I wrote about oil drilling problems connected to fashion industry. It is easier to feel sympathy and save the rain forests and cute furry animals. It is easy to forget the micro-organisms and plankton that is destroyed by the oil drilling for fashion business. Plankton is not considered super cute so saving it doesn't sell as click news. But micro-organisms and plankton too are very important for the biodiversity.
It is good to use recycled plastic in the things you don't need to wash as often as your clothes and textiles. If in fabric, choose it for the items you don't wash very often or at all like bags etc.
