Two years ago, the Story of Stuff Community played a huge role in outlawing polluting plastic microbeads in the US, a victory that’s now been replicated in nearly a dozen other countries!
Now, together, we’re going to take on an even bigger, if less well known, microplastics challenge: the polluting plastic fibers released from synthetic fabrics when our clothes go through the wash.
Although these plastic particles are small, they represent a huge form of plastic pollution. In fact, microfibers from sources like synthetic clothing represent about a third of the plastic in our oceans! But despite the scale of the problem, microfibers don’t get the attention they deserve.
Earlier this month, we told you about the next step in our microfibers campaign – passing a new state law to require labels on synthetic clothing in California, the sixth largest economy in the world. Last week, our champion in the state Assembly introduced our bill. Now, we’ve got to get it passed.
Your contribution today will supercharge our grassroots push, giving us the resources we need to make history once again.
Just like our microbeads campaign, we’ve started with a bill in the California Assembly. Our bill requires clothing companies to attach a garment label informing consumers that laundering synthetic clothing in washing machines causes plastic fibers to shed. This important first step holds companies accountable for the waste their products create, educates the public, and keeps the pressure on manufacturers to find a lasting solution.
Not surprisingly, our bill is already facing pushback from well-funded industry groups like the California Fashion Association. To stand up to them, we need your support. Your contribution will help us draw significant public attention to the problem of microfibers, just like we did with microbeads.
For the past few years, The Story of Stuff Project has been working to change the narrative around plastic pollution, putting the responsibility for finding solutions on the companies that created the problem in the first place. We did it with microbeads, and our campaign to tackle microfibers aims to replicate that success.
