The Laundry Impact
- Thrifting Project Team
- Jul 16, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 27, 2020
The fast fashion industry is only responsible for ⅔ of the water waste in a t-shirt’s life: us consumers cause the rest. Once a shirt is in your hands, you are responsible for cleaning, drying, and taking care of it. A washing machine needs 20 gallons of water to do a load of laundry, and each dryer cycle uses 40 gallons. Since the average American household does 300 loads of laundry a year, that’s 18,000 gallons of water!
Our products can harm the environment and ourselves. Scented supplies, like detergents and dryer sheets, release hazardous pollutants, including acetaldehyde and benzene, which are known to increase cancer risk.
Our laundry machines also pollute the environment. Synthetic fabrics, like nylon, are largely made of plastic, and with each load of laundry, about 700,000 microscopic plastic fibers are released. These microfibers often find their way into the ocean, where they pollute water sources and can kill aquatic animals. Some fish have even become dependent on plastics, preferring them to their regular food, which causes them to starve.
The situation seems overwhelming, but there are several steps we can take to reduce our laundry machines’ impact on the environment.
Use unscented laundry detergent, such as Tide Purclean and Mrs. Meyers Clean day, to avoid releasing toxic chemicals.
Dry your clothes on a clothesline: considering that drying uses more water than washing, a great way to save energy is to dry your garments on a clothesline or over the top of a shower curtain.
Buy eco-friendly washers and dryers. If you are looking to buy a washing machine, consider eco-friendly options, like Energy Star. They use 40 to 50 percent less energy, and 55 percent less water than average washers. This model will also save about $50 a year on utility bills.
And finally, wash your clothes less often! Most people have many items in their closet that they don’t wear: consider breaking out that cute sweater instead of doing laundry again. Remember that clothing can be worn a few times before it has to be washed. If you reduced your washing to just once a week, and didn’t use a dryer, you would use 1042 gallons of water a year, and save almost 17,000!
We have the power to make a big impact in a small way.
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