Micro fibers

Welcome Art! I was wondering if you saw this article in the New York Times. While I use natural fiber where possible, this seems to effect everybody everywhere. The dyes are bad too. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/opinion/sunday/what-comes-out-in-the-wash.html?smid=fb-share&_r=1

Any ideas on on filtration?
Linda L

Linda,

Fascinating article..thanks for posting this.
This strikes me as a problem that can be shrunk, but probably not eliminated for the foreseeable future.

A few thoughts:

• Laundry water to the garden rather than ocean will reduce the extent to which these fibers get directly ingested by creatures
• If there is any chance of something biodegrading anywhere it will happen in a mulch basin, with all the diversity and mycelia and such
• Natural fibers will not be as persistent
• Don't wash more often than necessary (go naked more often is, of course, the most ecological)
• Turn the hot water supply off to the washer...reduce your carbon footprint of water substantially (70% of the total carbon footprint of domestic water supply is for heating, on average) , and your clothes will last longer and not shed as much fibers

(these last items are from the Ecological Laundry sidebar in the new edition of Create an Oasis)

Yours,

Art