You may have heard…
…somewhere else about microfibers and what we can do reduce their impact on the environment. We hope the below will answer some questions you may have, but please contact Hubbub to ask about anything else.
“I can use a bag or a ball in my laundry to catch microfibers.”
You may have heard about bags or balls that can be used in the washing machine to catch microfibers. It’s great to hear that they’re working for people. All our recommendations have been signed off by scientists and experts and they didn’t feel it was right for us to include those products at this time due to a need for more peer reviewing. It’s great to see how these products are raising so much awareness about microfiber pollution.
“Government should introduce legislation that means retailers need to put a warning on clothing tags about the % synthetic material in a garment.”
We spoke to some scientists and they can’t definitively say if a certain % of synthetic material means that an item is more likely to shed microfibers. Also, natural materials still shed microfibers which have been found in marine wildlife. The best thing right now is for government to fund research into what microfibers are, how they’re released and solutions to the issue. Retailers and businesses should start a conversation with their customers and clients to raise awareness of microfibers and explore what they can do within their own business to reduce their impact.
“I can get a filter for my washing machine.”
You can! There are lots of filters out there and it’s worth having a look online. As with the bags and the balls, all our recommendations have been signed off by scientists and experts and they didn’t feel it was right for us to include those products at this time due to a need for more peer reviewing. Some of the ones we’ve looked at need you to attach something to the wall which won’t be doable for everyone due to physical space or tenancy contract restrictions. If they need daily emptying and binning of bags then we recommend looking for something different as these could create more waste.
There are currently lots of experiments and filters in development and we would love to see them included in washing machines made in the future.