The Environmental Impact of Laundry

Last week I took a long, hard look at my clothes shopping habit and fast fashion's negative environmental impact. So, naturally, it's time to delve into how I launder my clothing.

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What negative impact does my laundry routine have on the environment?

Buckle up, because we have a lot to cover.

Water

According to Energy Star, conventional top-loading washing machines use around 20 gallons of water per load. Since the average American family does about 300 loads of laundry every year, your washing machine is responsible for roughly 6,000 gallons of water waste every year. You may recall from my Week 26 post about water, that we are on the verge of a global water shortage and that conservation is crucial since, already, 844 million people lack access to basic drinking water.

Electricity

In Week 27, I learned that the electricity system is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Both washing machines and dryers require electricity to run and and they account for approximately 6% of household electricity usage. The heating element of most dryers use 4,000-6,000 watts of energy. According to an article from The Guardian, "washing and drying a load every two days creates around 440kg of CO2 each year, which is equivalent to flying from London to Glasgow and back with 15-mile taxi rides to and from the airports."

Detergent

Despite that questionable trend of kids eating Tide Pods, conventional laundry detergent contains all sorts of chemical ingredients, many of which are toxic to humans, pets, and aquatic life. The environmental impact of these ingredients is too extensive to cover in this post, so please read this article by Green Matters for further explanation.

In addition, detergent bottles, like all plastics, are made from crude oil, a non-renewable resource, which is harmful for two reasons: manufacturing generates significant pollution and the product is not biodegradable. As Sciencing.com put it, "they are difficult to produce and nearly impossible to get rid of once produced". Instead of biodegrading, plastic breaks down into tiny micro-plastics that litter our soil, our waterways, and even our air.

Dryer Sheets

Conventional dryer sheets are made of nonwoven polyester which is a form of plastic. There has been a bit of controversy surrounding the toxicity of chemicals used in dryer sheets, but dryer sheets can leave a film on the filter that reduces air flow and, over time, can affect the performance of the motor. If you use them, scrub your filter with a toothbrush once a month.

Microplastics from Synthetic Fabric

Synthetic materials like rayon, acryclic, polyester, and nylon make up roughly 60% of clothing material worldwide, and they are all made of plastic. When manufactured, worn, and laundered, they shed tiny, plastic microfibers, and contribute 35% of the microplastics polluting our oceans.

Are detergent bottles recyclable?

Conventional detergent bottles are typically made of #2 plastics and can be recycled through most curbside recycling programs. They should be emptied and rinsed before put in the recycling bin.

If you do not have access to curbside recycling, you can print a free shipping label and recycle certain products through a program sponsored by Terracycle and Tide. They accept all non-recyclable fabric care products and packaging from brands Tide, Gain, Downy & Dreft, including plastic components (dispensing cup, bag, nozzle, nozzle clip), and plastic packaging wrap, flexible plastic bags, rigid plastic tubs and lids, and Tide To Go pens. Tide wipes are not accepted.

How can I make my laundry routine more sustainable?

Don't let this post overwhelm you! There are plenty of ways to adjust your laundry routine so it is a little more environmentally friendly. Here are 10 options for you:

1. Conserve water by waiting until your clothes are visibly dirty or smelly to wash them.
2. Another way to conserve water is wait until you have a full load before running your washing machine. The average household could save 99 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year by running only full loads of laundry.
3. Save electricity by washing your laundry in cold water. Close to 90 percent of the energy necessary to clean a load of laundry in a top-load washer is used to heat the water.
4. Air dry your laundry. A household running a dryer just 200 times a year could save nearly half a ton of CO2 simply by air drying. Consider using an outdoor clothes line or making a clothes drying rack that can fold up in your laundry room. In addition to saving electricity, this will help your clothes last longer.
5. When it's time to replace your washer and dryer, make sure they are Energy Star certified. Over 80% of American homes have a dryer. If they were all Energy Star certified, Americans could save $1.5 billion in utility costs each year and prevent more than 22 billion pounds of annual greenhouse gases.
6. Switch to a sustainable laundry detergent that produces less waste and doesn't put pollute our water supply.
7. Ditch the dryer sheets and opt for reusable dryer balls instead.
8. Every time we do our laundry, an average of 9 million microfibers are released into waste water. Put laundry made of synthetic fibers in a washing bag that traps these microplastics so they don't end up in our waterways.
9. Use a natural bleach alternative like vinegar, lemon, or the even the sun, to treat stains. Looking for something a little stronger? Try Meliora's oxygen brightener.
10. Clean your dryer filter after every load to improve air circulation and increase the efficiency of the dryer.

Laundry week is a little more overwhelming than anticipated, but just being mindful of the environmental impact is a step in the right direction. Slowly integrate these changes into your routine until they become habits and finish using whatever laundry detergent you already have before switching to a greener alternative. Remember that many people being imperfectly low-waste is more effective than one person being completely zero-waste.