One thing a lot of people don’t know is that laundry has a large impact on the environment. And that impact is more detrimental than beneficial. In the US, the average number of loads was per week for most households is between 4 to 5. The amount of wastewater from different households combined affects wildlife, eutrophication, and water systems contamination among others.
Not to mention that this wastewater contains chemicals, lint, finishing agents, dyes, and soil from the washing process. This is the reason why it is important to reduce waste when doing laundry.
To that end, below are tips on how to decrease waste when doing laundry.
Powder or liquid detergent
This is the most basic item of doing laundry and it has a huge impact when it comes to laundry waste. And when it comes to detergent, some people use powder while others prefer liquid. First, packaging for liquid detergent is thick plastic bottles, plus the toxic chemicals used to make the detergent.
Those two are big environmental hazards. Not all liquid detergents are concentrated, some are usually watered down meaning that you will have to use more bottles. They are more concentrated with biodegradable options making them eco-friendly. Powder detergents can help solve this problem, and the good thing is that you can make DIY Laundry Detergent or get readymade ones in the store. You can check out this article for more tips on the best detergents for zero waste laundry.
The washing process
While choosing the right detergent goes a long way, the washing process is also vital to helping reduce waste when doing your laundry. It is recommended to use cold instead of hot water since it reduces the amount of energy the washing machine uses and it’s not as stressful to the clothes as hot water.
Another useful tip is doing full loads every time you do your laundry. The lesser your loads are, the more often you will have to do your laundry. And the more the washes the more the waste. To be efficient, always do full loads.
Drying your clothes
The best way to dry your clothes is by hanging them and letting them air dry. It helps save wear on your clothes. Unless it is always cold and it will take your clothes more than a day to dry, use a line or hangers to dry them. Also, make use of wool dryer balls and essential oils. Using wool dryer balls gets rid of dryer sheets which are single-use.
Dryer sheets are also full of toxins and are non-biodegradable, making them harmful to the environment and your health. Essential oils are also very beneficial, from boosting sleep to fighting germs, removing nasty smells, disinfecting, and killing mites and fleas in dog beds, it depends on the oils you choose.
Bottom line
Every step of doing laundry has its impact, most of which are linked to laundry waste. Once you know the effect of each item or process, you can reduce laundry waste which goes a long way to creating a healthy environment. Use the above tips to help shrink this problem which is hazardous in so many ways.
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