Plastic Pollution from Puffer Jackets?

The microplastic issue that won’t leave you feeling as warm and fuzzy as your puffer.

Written by Lily Collins in 2019 as part of a university assignment. Pictures updated.

*Image of me - Lily - in a puffer jacket at the beginning of 2024 in Helsinki, Finland.*

It’s a staple item of clothing to combat the winter chills but how bad is your puffer for the environment? As it turns out, the microplastic particles from these jackets may be one of the biggest threats to our marine life...

A Plastic Problem

When we think of plastic pollution in our oceans, images of water bottles and plastic bags typically come to mind. Studies have recently shown however, that there are up to 236,000 tonnes of ‘microplastics’ in our oceans as of 2015 – the weight of over 1000 blue whales!

Where are they coming from? Our clothes.

These microplastics are so small that they’re unable to be seen by the naked eye. This is a disaster for our marine animals because, as a result, huge quantities of microplastic particles are mistakenly consumed as part of their diet.

*Image taken on a beach in Scotland featuring fishing netting buried among sand and plant matter.*

Worse for Wear

A report by research group Eunomia (funded by Friends of the Earth) has shown that the microfibres causing damage are contained within up to 64% of our clothes. Plastics including polyester, acrylic and nylon make up a range of our everyday clothes not limited to puffer jackets.

The problem is, that as a result of repeated wash and wear, microplastics from our clothes shed. In fact in 1 wash, each synthetic fleece jacket can release at least 1.7 grams of microplastics with older jackets releasing more. During the washing process, these particles are circulated to wastewater treatment plants however, due to their size, go undetected. They are consequently washed out to sea and end up on coastal shorelines, causing problems for unsuspecting creatures.

*Image of shell attached to plastic substrate at Hawks Nest, NSW*

Sensible Solution?

Recently, a number of companies including Adidas started producing clothes with materials made from recycled plastic. Rather than plastic waste ending up in the natural environment, in an effort to recycle the enormous amount of plastic we produce, Adidas have committed to including plastic materials in all of their products by 2024. Simply, the process involves cleaning, chopping up and melting used plastic so it can be moulded into another form such as yarn for fabrics.

While this sounds like a potentially clever idea in theory, the bigger picture is more complicated and unfortunately this ‘silver bullet’ solution to our plastic problem doesn’t provide as great a benefit as initially thought.

While these initiatives reduce the level of virgin plastic produced and entering the environment, it increases microplastic pollution of our marine habitats. When plastics break down into smaller, seemingly innocuous forms, they are harder to remove from the environment and consumed by many species. Microplastic concentration can then increase up the food chain and studies now show that humans are ingesting microplastics through seafood diets.

Wear with Pride

So what can we do on an individual level? To make an impact regarding the amount of microplastic entering the environment, we need to consider the overall amount of plastic we consume. At this rate, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish. To help reverse this trend, we need to adopt the 5 R’s approach.

reduce, refuse, reuse, recycle & remove

REDUCE the amount of clothing you buy and how often you wash it. REFUSE to settle for cheap quality items that contain plastic if you can afford to. REUSE your winter clothes from last season. RECYCLE your clothes by giving them a second life and finally, RETHINK before buying to limit plastic in your wardrobe by making mindful purchases.

We only have one planet. Let’s clean it up.

*Image of me in a warm wool jumper (thanks mum) enjoying a picnic in the park in Edinburgh*

Here are some interesting links to check out if you’re keen to learn more:

References

Andrady, AL, 2011, ‘Microplastics in the marine environment’, Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 62, no.8, pp. 1596-1605.

Browne, MA, Crump, P, Niven, SJ, Teuten, E, Tonkin, A, Galloway, T & Thompson, R 2011, ‘Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines woldwide: sources and sinks’, Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 45, no. 21, pp. 9175-9179.

Hartline, NL, Bruce, NJ, Karba SN, Ruff, EO, Sonar, SU, & Holden, PA 2016, ‘Microfiber Masses Recovered from Conventional Machine Washing of New or Aged
Garments’, Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 50 no. 21, pp. 11532-11538.

Napper, IE & Thompson, RC, 2016, ‘Release of synthetic microplastic plastic fibres from domestic washing machines: effects of fabric type and washing conditions’, Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 112 no. 2, pp. 39-45.