How to Wash Without Degrading the Environment
When doing a wash (or two) washes, I often wonder: between chemical detergents, huge water consumption and dry cleaning with tricky stains, am I a shitty environmentalist?
While I try my best, I certainly have room for improvement (and it looks like dry cleaning might become a habit that I have to give up). This week Popular Science gave advice on how we can all get a little greener when it comes to our washing rituals.
Use environmentally friendly detergents.
Perhaps the easiest way to preserve the environment in your laundry is to use a biodegradable detergent, as Popular Science recommends. Why? All detergents contain surfactants that will remove all the dirt from your dirty clothes. After draining the detergent, these surfactants enter our waterways, such as streams and rivers, where their high concentrations are toxic to aquatic organisms.
How can this problem be avoided? Try using an environmentally friendly detergent that degrades within a few days of use, reducing the chance of water contamination. One way to find biodegradable detergents is to look for types that are made with plant-based ingredients rather than petroleum. (They are much more biodegradable.) USA Today recommends brands such as Mrs. Meyers and Method, both of which are composed primarily of herbal ingredients.
When shopping, you can easily find biodegradable detergent or plant-based soap by its label. You can also search for your current detergent on the Environmental Working Group website to better assess your impact. The EWG evaluates each detergent (and other household products) based on its health and environmental impacts that could affect your shopping habits.
Another important tip from Grist is that powdered detergents tend to be slightly better for the environment than liquid ones as they tend to contain more surfactants, so always use powdered detergents.
Use cold water
Yes, hot water is the best way to properly clean clothes or get rid of stains. In other cases, such as trying to prevent color shrinkage or tarnishing , cold water is the preferred method – and often the best solution for the environment as well.
Your washing machine can only use up to 90% of its energy to heat the water, so keeping the water warm will not only help reduce your environmental impact, but also provide the added benefit of saving money on your water heating costs.
Air dry your clothes
Your dryer uses a lot of energy. In fact, a new tumble dryer can use as much energy as a new washing machine, refrigerator and dishwasher combined, according to a 2014 report from the Natural Resources Defense Council .
The best answer to this problem is to air dry your clothes. You will save energy and money, and air drying is the best way to keep your clothes safe and sound. Drying them over and over creates microscopic tears that wear down your clothes until you throw them in the bin.
Buy clothes made from natural fibers
According to Popular Science , some fibers are much better than others for the environment. Clothes made from synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon or acrylic release tiny amounts of fiber into our waterways with every wash. While numbers vary, one report estimates that 700,000 fibers are removed in just one wash. Another report estimates that 1,900 fibers come from a single garment.
Many of these fibers are made from plastic and are considered microplastics that pollute our oceans and become toxic to wildlife. Whenever possible, buy more clothing made from natural fibers, such as cotton, wool and hemp.
Use dry cleaning sparingly
What’s wrong with dry cleaning? Many dry cleaners in the United States use a cleaning solvent known as perchlorethylene or perchlorethylene. In fact, of the estimated 36,000 clothing care businesses, it is estimated that around 85% use dandruff. It can cause effects such as dizziness and nausea in humans and is considered a “probable carcinogen” in the state of California. It has also been shown to cause cancer in animals.
Use dry cleaning a little less often to fix this problem. Or search online for eco-friendly dry cleaners that do not use perchlorethylene. Currently, the two most environmentally friendly dry cleaning processes are wet and dry cleaning and liquid carbon dioxide cleaning. Wet and dry cleaning uses environmentally friendly mild detergents; the latter captures carbon dioxide as a by-product of industrial processes, requiring little resources.
You can find an environmentally friendly cleaner that uses hydrocarbon solvents or silicone- based solvents . Both are better than your standard perchlorethylene dry cleaning, although they still involve some environmental waste. Just ask your janitor what they use before giving you the clothes so you can better understand your environmental impact.