9 TIPS TO ECO-FRIENDLY LAUNDRY AND LONG-LASTING CLOTHES
Here are some good news. Up to two-thirds of clothes’ carbon footprint happen after you take it home. So a lot of the unpleasant things in the fashion industry is actually in your hands to fix.
Yes, it’s super green to stay in dirty clothes, but we have better solutions. By choosing earth-friendly methods for laundry day you prolong the life of your clothes. And it's not even hard to do.
Yes, it’s super green to stay in dirty clothes, but we have better solutions. By choosing earth-friendly methods for laundry day you prolong the life of your clothes. And it's not even hard to do.
ECO-FRIENDLY LAUNDRY TO PRESERVE CLOTHES AND DECREASE YOUR FOOTPRINT
The greenest way to wash those dirty clothes is to do the laundry the old fashion way – with a washboard. However, unless you have several hours of free time this option for doing the laundry the green way isn’t very feasible nor efficient.
Let’s change our methods. Let’s do laundry the green way.
- Be lazy. Don’t do laundry too often. By that we don’t mean that you should waltz around covered in stains and dirt, it just means that you probably don’t have to wash clothes, towels, and sheets after using them for a day, or even a few days if they aren’t visibly dirty.
- Clean the stain instead of the whole garment. If your garment is only dirty in one teeny spot, just clean the stain and don't put it in the washing machine.You are saving water and detergent and being super good to the environment. Not to mention your clothes will last longer.
- Wash your laundry in cold water and always rinse in cold. Up to 90 percent of the energy laundry machines use goes to heating the water. So use cold water and detergents designed for it. That way you save energy.
- Switch from hot water to cold or warm. This can help prevent 250 kg of CO2 from reaching the atmosphere every year. Heat can break fibers down. So by instead using cold water, your clothes will actually last longer.
- We recommend a green laundry detergent (needless to say). Of course by ‘green’ we mean detergents that are biodegradable. All of that soap and volatile, stain-removing stuff has to go somewhere. We doubt that the fish, invertebrates, and microorganisms living in our waterways want anything to do with it.
- Do your laundry when you have a full load. When you wash in cold water, you can put colors together without the risk of color bleeding.
- Keep in mind that washing and drying a load every two days creates around 440 kg of CO2 each year. This is equivalent to flying from London to Glasgow and back. Including a 10 km taxi ride to and from the airports.
- It's super green to hang your clothes out to dry instead of using the dryer. The dryer uses a significant amount of energy. It can actually also shorten the life of your clothes because of shrinkage and other wear and tear on the fabric. Hang your clothes on a clothesline or drying rack to save energy and your clothes.
- Watch out when dry cleaning your clothes. Many professional dry cleaners use toxic chemicals called perc. That's linked to respiratory issues, birth defects and air pollution. Opt for green and organic dry cleaners.
Let’s change our methods. Let’s do laundry the green way.
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