Last week, to my wife's dismay, I ruffled through our drawers, throwing out all the clothing I could find that was made of synthetic fibres.
When any clothes get put in the washing machine, tiny fibres come off them. They get into the wastewater system and ultimately, the ocean.
It is well known in science that these 'microplastics' are readily consumed by small marine organisms, threatening to poison our food chain.
Back in the day, our clothing, carpets and upholstery came mainly from wool, silk and cotton. These are all natural, biodegradable materials that don't cause problems at the end of the chain when they get into the ecosystem.
While we know that cotton is a thirsty plant and often is associated with a large amount of pesticides, it can be grown organically. Cotton also does not involve the vast amount of industrial wastewater associated with synthetic textiles in china, that gets poisoned with 72 toxic chemicals that are linked to human health problems.
The simple fact is, that for most applications, natural fibres outperform synthetics anyway.
