Earth Day: Fighting microfibre pollution one laundry at a time

Africanews (in English)

Earth Day: Fighting microfibre pollution one laundry at a time  Synthetic fibres account for two-thirds of worldwide textile production, but it also creates microfibre pollution.  READ MORE : http://www.africanews.com/2025/04/22/earth-day-fighting-microfibre-pollution-one-laundry-at-a-time  Subscribe on our Dailymotion channel and receive all the latest news from the continent.    Africanews is available in English and French.  Website : www.africanews.com  Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/africanews.channel/  Twitter : https://twitter.com/africanews

Transcript

00:01Plastic is everywhere, including in the clothes that we wear every day.

00:05On Tuesday, April 22, we celebrate Earth Day,

00:08an occasion for people worldwide to contemplate ways to reduce their impact on the planet.

00:13And some people are taking the fight against plastic right to our closets.

00:18Most of the clothing that we all wear is made out of synthetic or plastic-based materials.

00:25That may come as a surprise to people who kind of think about cotton t-shirts and wool and things like that,

00:31but the way it's all evolved is that the majority of our clothing is synthetic and the majority of that is polyester.

00:39Synthetic fibers account for about two-thirds of production worldwide,

00:43but they are also a substantial cause of global plastic pollution.

00:46When these garments are worn, washed, and put through the dryer, they shed plastic fiber fragments.

00:51It turns out that clothing can break, and it breaks in a really microscopic way.

00:56So think about garments or textiles being made out of hundreds and millions of tiny little fibers,

01:03and those fibers are so small they can be vulnerable to breaking.

01:07When they break off those tiny little pieces of tiny fibers, that's called microfiber,

01:14and when it ends up in our natural environment, that's microfiber pollution.

01:18Inspired by the way that coral filters the ocean, Rachel Miller invented the coral ball.

01:24This laundry ball can be tossed into the washing machine to avoid clothes banging into each other and breaking too much fiber.

01:31The coral ball is designed to protect our ocean and our public waterways by preventing the problem of microfiber pollution.

01:40The coral ball does this two ways.

01:43One, it helps prevent shedding in the washing machine in the first place by keeping our clothes apart,

01:51and that helps our clothes last longer.

01:53And when some fiber breaks off, it helps by collecting some of that before it can wash out the drain.

02:01Beyond individual solutions like the coral ball, the textile industry should shift towards a more sustainable production model

02:08to reduce its climate impact according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

02:13But the coral ball is starting to remove the ocean, and it's a form of green, and then as soon as soon as possible with the ocean to get rid of the ocean,

02:17which means we have to move on from the ocean.

02:18So that we are doing researches and the sandals that are coming through all of our ocean and the airs.

02:19And now they are in the ocean for whatever they want to be able to gather in the ocean.

02:20Because you've got the ocean for all of the ocean,

02:21And at this time you've been able to catch me,

02:22the ocean for the ocean.

02:23So, now we can see the ocean for six minutes when you are going to be able to have a water.

02:24Imagine as a tank and the ocean for you can move on to the ocean.

02:25The ocean is a great season for you to go.

02:26So we can see that this layer of the ocean for you can't be able to gather in the ocean.

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