I’d like to see the numbers, but I imagine that the synthetic textiles chunk comes from the sheer volume of fast-fashion and trashion produced every year. I have synthetic shirts that are well over a decade old and still look and function as brand new. My cotton shirts under similar wear get ratty and frayed in that time frame (and require harsh chemicals for stains).
If we stopped over-washing and over production, I wouldn’t be surprised if the lifetime ecological footprint of synthetic garments is less than a cotton equivalent.
i would imagine most comes from shedding of the fabrics in regular use and washing+drying, basically the rate is mostly constant fast fashion or not. I would think the only viable solution would be limiting/stopping or finding alternatives to synthetic fibers. Also perhaps some kind of microplastic filter in washing machine outlets mandated by regulation could be a way to limit the emissions of new microplastics.
So… Cotton/Linen/Wool? The technology is fine, its only downside in most applications is simply cost. Cotton clothes are more comfortable, less stinky, less polluting, and won’t fuse with your skin and disfigure you for life if they accidentally catch on fire. On top of not making microplastics soup every wash cycle.
If we cared to actually solve the problem of plastics in fast fashion we could ban them, with some exceptions for sportswear and shoes where synthetics have some actually useful uses. Hell, we could even make it an easy transition by gradually pulling back the allowable synthetic content for x years.
But it would directly kneecap Shein and H&M’s business model so we have to weigh all the pros against that.
There’s also Hemp. And Lyocell, which is made from cellulose (Sourced from trees or bamboo).
And yeah nice fully cotton clothes can be pricey. The upside is that they’re generally much higher quality and very comfy. Annoyingly it is very common for stuff to be labeled “100% cotton” yet still be cotton/poly mix so always check the fabric breakdown on tags or website fine print.
I’m sure would find equivalent non-polluting alternative materials within a couple of years if we banned all plastics (“synthetic textiles”).
But only if we actually put the ban in place.
Otherwise the answer is never.
Yes, this is how I understand it too, it’s not like half of your shirt ends up in the ocean (and the amount of plastics that ends up in the landfills isn’t really included in the microplastics that circle around - that’s a problem for the future - so the vomit-inducing fast fashion/consumerism is a bigger problem from every other standpoint).
And yes again on the only viable solution - it’s stupid to try to slightly improve something you are gonna be producing more of every year. The “improvements” are just propaganda we are (successfully) fed for decades & it just muddies the discussions whilst keeping the current/same profiteers in power (without even changing the business model).
Last year I looked for a filter for my washer, and found a lot of inconsistencies and hocus pocus.
This year it’s really hitting me how ratty my cotton t-shirts from pandemic look, especially compared to the rayon blend t-shirts from the same time. If the cotton is heavier and bulkier, doesn’t last as long, needs tons of water…. Is it really better?
My decade old plastic shirts have faded, the linen ones last better, but yeah, they stain (and I’m not going to test them with plastic coatings to improve stain resistance!). I only get bold colours, so my pastel shirts are very faded
I’d like to see the numbers, but I imagine that the synthetic textiles chunk comes from the sheer volume of fast-fashion and trashion produced every year. I have synthetic shirts that are well over a decade old and still look and function as brand new. My cotton shirts under similar wear get ratty and frayed in that time frame (and require harsh chemicals for stains).
If we stopped over-washing and over production, I wouldn’t be surprised if the lifetime ecological footprint of synthetic garments is less than a cotton equivalent.
i would imagine most comes from shedding of the fabrics in regular use and washing+drying, basically the rate is mostly constant fast fashion or not. I would think the only viable solution would be limiting/stopping or finding alternatives to synthetic fibers. Also perhaps some kind of microplastic filter in washing machine outlets mandated by regulation could be a way to limit the emissions of new microplastics.
So… Cotton/Linen/Wool? The technology is fine, its only downside in most applications is simply cost. Cotton clothes are more comfortable, less stinky, less polluting, and won’t fuse with your skin and disfigure you for life if they accidentally catch on fire. On top of not making microplastics soup every wash cycle.
If we cared to actually solve the problem of plastics in fast fashion we could ban them, with some exceptions for sportswear and shoes where synthetics have some actually useful uses. Hell, we could even make it an easy transition by gradually pulling back the allowable synthetic content for x years.
But it would directly kneecap Shein and H&M’s business model so we have to weigh all the pros against that.
There’s also Hemp. And Lyocell, which is made from cellulose (Sourced from trees or bamboo).
And yeah nice fully cotton clothes can be pricey. The upside is that they’re generally much higher quality and very comfy. Annoyingly it is very common for stuff to be labeled “100% cotton” yet still be cotton/poly mix so always check the fabric breakdown on tags or website fine print.
I’m sure would find equivalent non-polluting alternative materials within a couple of years if we banned all plastics (“synthetic textiles”).
But only if we actually put the ban in place.
Otherwise the answer is never.
Yes, this is how I understand it too, it’s not like half of your shirt ends up in the ocean (and the amount of plastics that ends up in the landfills isn’t really included in the microplastics that circle around - that’s a problem for the future - so the vomit-inducing fast fashion/consumerism is a bigger problem from every other standpoint).
And yes again on the only viable solution - it’s stupid to try to slightly improve something you are gonna be producing more of every year. The “improvements” are just propaganda we are (successfully) fed for decades & it just muddies the discussions whilst keeping the current/same profiteers in power (without even changing the business model).
Last year I looked for a filter for my washer, and found a lot of inconsistencies and hocus pocus.
This year it’s really hitting me how ratty my cotton t-shirts from pandemic look, especially compared to the rayon blend t-shirts from the same time. If the cotton is heavier and bulkier, doesn’t last as long, needs tons of water…. Is it really better?
My decade old plastic shirts have faded, the linen ones last better, but yeah, they stain (and I’m not going to test them with plastic coatings to improve stain resistance!). I only get bold colours, so my pastel shirts are very faded