Hello Crafter!
Last year, I was dedicated to raising awareness for endangered and threatened animal populations; during the process, I learned a lot about environmental impacts we humans create that negatively affect the habitats of these animals, and also ourselves. One of these factors that us crafters contribute to, is microplastic pollution. Microplastics are small pieces of plastic, these can be from larger pieces of plastic, micro beads(facial/body wash, toothpaste etc), polyester fabric, and basically any source of plastic.
Many crafters use acrylic yarn, which is created from strings of……plastic. The yarn is made into garments, toys and other things that we use and wash, which then sheds microplastics into the water systems and eventually enters into our rivers and oceans.
“Most microfiber pollution occurs when people wash their clothes. A 2016 study by researchers at the University of Plymouth in the U.K. estimated that up to 700,000 microfibers could be released in a single load of laundry, roughly equivalent to the surface area of a pack of gum.”
NBC News
“Royer said these microplastic particles — anything measuring 5 millimeters or smaller — bypass filters at wastewater treatment plants, which means they can end up in recycled “biosolids” that are used as fertilizer or they get pumped directly into waterways. And unlike plastic bottles or candy wrappers that can be picked up and disposed of, the spread of these tiny fibers is much more difficult to control.”
NBC News
Since we don’t typically see these microplastics with the human eye, we don’t tend to take notice that we are contributing to pollution in the same way as tossing a soda bottle in the trash instead of recycling. However, the pollution is still happening!
“We found that most of the plastic is below the surface.” More, he says, than in the giant floating patches.”
NPR
“We’ve looked now at over 2,000 lancetfish,” says Choy, “and we’ve found that about one in every three lancetfish has some kind of plastic in its stomach. It’s really shocking, because this fish actually doesn’t come to the surface as far as we know.” That suggests that plastic has spread through the water column.”
NPR
So how can we as crafters continue doing what we love without contributing to the microplastic pollution? Luckily for us, a lot of yarn companies have begun making yarn from renewable resources, such as bamboo, corn, and there is always traditional wool. While I highly suggest against tossing out the acrylic yarn you already own, I do hope that in the future you may consider more sustainable alternative fibers. Lionbrand yarn has a good selection of sustainable fiber alternatives such as their “Truboo” and “24/7 Cotton” and Paintbox yarn has an amazing color selection in their cotton as well. One of my favorite yarn was actually Kollage “Corntastic” which was made from corn! Sadly it is no longer available(at least not that I am aware of).
Another area of crafting that contributes to the microplastic pollution, is amigurumi and the use of poly fiberfill. If you google alternative fiber fill options you may see thirty dollar bags of cotton fiber, wool, kapok and start to worry that you wouldn’t be able to continue to fill your ami pieces in an eco friendly AND affordable way. However, there is an affordable and eco-friendly option in the brand Eco Craft; which can be purchased from places like: Walmart, Jo-Ann’s, and Amazon(which is where I got mine).
Eco Craft fiberfill is made from PLA fiber, which is a fiber made from corn! PLA can also be made from sugarcane and sugar beet pulp. The fibers created from PLA are biodegradable and can be recycled.
I have been using the Eco Craft fiberfill for a few months now, and I don’t really notice a difference in performance for stuffing ami. The only noticeable performance difference is that the eco fiberfill is slightly more stiff, which I personally prefer. I feel like the pieces I stuff with the PLA fiber fill out better. I am happy to know that not only can I use a fiberfill that isn’t going to contribute to microplastic pollution, but I also do not see any negative outcomes in my work or any price changes.
I hope that you will consider giving this PLA fiberfill a try!
P.S. I am not sponsored by any brand mentioned, I just want to be more eco conscious. 🙂
Thank you for Reading!
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