Wring in the New Year

Wring in the New Year

© Cartoonist: Hilburn, Scott   Search ID: shl091019

It’s not me. Really, really. It’s the dryer. My dryer is shrinking my clothes. Well, just my pants.  Like all my pants.  Every. One. Of. Them. Funny not my shirts though, or my kids clothes. OK, so, let’s talk clothes. 

So much controversy around clothes.  Sweatshops, sagging, whale tails, and even Lady Gaga’s meat dress. But, I’d like to talk about laundry. And sustainability.  Not the homemade detergents or wool dryer balls, but the actual act itself – washing your clothes. Or "warshing" as my southern friend would say. As our environment is threatened by throwaway fast fashion (Old Navy), we know that after a few washes, our new clothes can lose their fit (dumb dryer), softness and color. And, we tend to throw them out before they are worn out. Thanks to this 2020 laundry study, our new clothes we got for Christmas will last longer while reducing our carbon footprint.  How? 

When we wash our clothes in the washing machine, the clothes fade, color runs and they release thousands of microfibers (plastics) that end of up our oceans and swallowed by marine life. These microfibers count for more than 1/3 of ocean plastics pollutants.

By design, modern washers are well equipped to handle cold water. So, let’s reduce both washing cycle length and water temperature from 104°F to 68°F.  This would save us over 65% of the energy used per load. And, when washing with a quicker, cooler cycle, the amount of microfibers release into the environment decreases by up to 52%, and cut dye release by up to 74%.

Worried that your clothes will still stink or not come clean? Many sustainable detergents have enzymes that start to work in temperatures as low as 60°F. With so much advancement in detergents, clothes get exceptionally clean in colder and quicker washes.

Let’s recap. I’m hardly a walking advertisement for fast (or any kind of) fashion, but we have to cut down on the quantity of new clothing we buy and get much of it secondhand. Cold-water washing means clothing is less likely to shrink or fade and ruin clothes. Cold water can also saves us with energy costs.

Now, more than ever, our clothes are made of plastic. Just washing them can pollute the oceans. And if you must, cold water washing will decrease the amount of microfibers that end up in our oceans which has been hurting and killing the marine animals.

And, when it comes to laundry, three-quarters of emissions associated with a single load comes from heating the water itself.

So, consider making a small tweak that practiced over time can go a long way toward reducing your household's impact.