Fast fashion and the plastics you’re inhaling | ABC News Daily Podcast
Summary
TLDRIn this ABC News Daily segment, host Sam Hawley discusses the environmental and health impacts of fast fashion, highlighting the presence of microplastics in our daily lives. Craig Reucassel from 'War on Waste' shares his unsettling discovery of microplastics in his own body, emphasizing the need for a shift towards reusables to reduce waste. The conversation delves into the challenges of addressing microplastic pollution, the role of synthetic materials in clothing, and the broader environmental footprint of the fashion industry, urging for conscious consumer choices to mitigate waste.
Takeaways
- 🌍 Fast fashion is significantly harmful to the environment and may also have negative impacts on human health.
- 👕 Cheap clothing is often laden with microplastics, which are small enough to be inhaled, potentially leading to health issues.
- 🚮 Craig Reucassel, host of 'War on Waste', is on a mission to reduce disposable coffee cup usage and encourage the use of reusable cups.
- 🏖️ Australia generates a staggering 2.6 million tons of plastic waste annually, averaging to about 100 kilos per person.
- 🔬 Microplastics, less than a millimeter in size, are difficult to see with the naked eye but can be found in various everyday items including food and beverages.
- 🧪 Craig underwent a personal experiment and discovered about 30 pieces of microplastics in his body, primarily from polyester fibers inhaled from the air.
- 👚 Over 60% of clothing is made from plastic materials like polyester, which sheds microfibers and contributes to the microplastic pollution.
- 🔍 The health effects of microplastics are not yet fully understood, but there are early indications of potential links to certain health issues.
- 🌱 The environmental impact of fast fashion extends beyond microplastics, with the entire lifecycle of clothing contributing to resource depletion and carbon emissions.
- 🛍️ 'War on Waste' advocates for a shift in consumer behavior towards buying less, wearing clothes longer, and extending the life of garments to reduce environmental impact.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video script?
-The main topic of the video script is the environmental and health impact of fast fashion, particularly the presence of microplastics in our daily lives.
Who is the host of the 'War on Waste' series?
-Craig Reucassel is the host of the 'War on Waste' series.
What is the average amount of plastic waste produced per person in Australia annually?
-The average amount of plastic waste produced per person in Australia annually is about 100 kilos.
What was the experiment conducted by Craig to find out how many microplastics were inside him?
-Craig provided a sample of his feces to Professor Fred Leusch at Griffith University to determine the amount of microplastics present in his body.
What was the shocking discovery about the microplastics found inside Craig's body?
-The shocking discovery was that there were about 30 pieces of microplastics inside Craig, which was considered average, and most of them were microfibers of polyester, likely from inhalation.
What are microplastics and why are they a concern?
-Microplastics are tiny bits of plastic less than a millimeter in size, too small to be seen with the naked eye. They are a concern because they are pervasive in the environment and can have unknown health consequences.
What is the connection between clothing and microplastics?
-Over 60% of clothing is made from plastic, predominantly polyester, which can shed microfibers during washing, contributing to the microplastic pollution.
What are some of the potential health impacts of microplastics mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions that there are early studies suggesting that microplastics might affect reproduction and have potential links to some cancers, although more research is needed.
What is the role of food waste in the 'War on Waste'?
-Food waste is a significant issue because a large portion of the food we buy ends up being thrown away, contributing to landfill and methane production, a potent greenhouse gas.
What changes have been made in Australia regarding single-use plastics?
-There have been positive changes such as the introduction of plastic bag charges in supermarkets, which has led to an 80% increase in people bringing their own bags, reducing single-use plastic waste.
What is the main message of the 'War on Waste' regarding clothing consumption?
-The main message is to buy less, wear clothes longer, and extend the life of clothes through mending, resale, or swapping to reduce the overall environmental impact of fashion.
Outlines
🌿 Environmental and Health Impact of Fast Fashion
The script opens with Sam Hawley discussing the detrimental effects of fast fashion on the environment and human health. It highlights the presence of microplastics in cheap clothing and the potential for these particles to be inhaled by consumers. Craig Reucassel, host of 'War on Waste,' shares his experience with disposable coffee cups and his efforts to promote reusable alternatives. The conversation delves into the shocking discovery of microplastics within Craig's body, emphasizing the need for further research on the health implications of these microscopic pollutants.
🧬 Microplastics in Our Bodies: The Unsettling Reality
This paragraph delves deeper into the presence of microplastics in Craig's body, revealing that most of the microplastics found were microfibers, likely ingested through the air from synthetic materials like polyester in clothing and textiles. The segment discusses the challenges of quantifying and understanding the health effects of these particles, as well as the broader environmental impact of plastic use in clothing. It also touches on the complexity of finding solutions, considering the environmental footprint of both synthetic and natural fibers in the fashion industry.
🛒 The Ongoing Battle Against Waste and Its Consequences
In the final paragraph, the discussion shifts to the broader issue of waste management, with a focus on progress made in reducing single-use plastics and the ongoing challenge of food waste. Craig Reucassel reflects on the changes in consumer habits and the importance of recycling, particularly in the context of food waste, which contributes to methane emissions when decomposing in landfills. The script concludes with a call to action, emphasizing the need for continued efforts to address waste and its environmental impacts.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Microplastics
💡Fast fashion
💡Reusables vs. single-use
💡Environmental footprint
💡Polyester
💡War on Waste
💡Inhalation of microfibers
💡Sustainable fashion
💡Methane emissions
💡Chemical additives in plastics
Highlights
Fast fashion is damaging to the environment and potentially harmful to health due to microplastics.
Craig Reucassel from 'War on Waste' aims to convince Australians to use reusable coffee cups.
Australia produces 2.6 million tons of plastic waste annually, averaging to about 100 kilos per person.
Microplastics, less than a millimeter in size, are invisible to the naked eye but prevalent in our environment.
Craig underwent a test revealing about 30 pieces of microplastics in his body from a single sample.
Microplastics found in Craig were primarily microfibers of polyester, likely inhaled from the air.
Over 60% of clothing is made from plastic, predominantly polyester, contributing to microplastic pollution.
The health consequences of microplastics are still largely unknown, with ongoing research to understand their impact.
Plastic contains various chemicals such as stabilizers, fire retardants, and colorants, which may have health implications.
Microplastics have been linked to potential effects on coral life and other marine organisms.
Cotton and wool also have environmental footprints, making the choice between synthetic and natural fibers complex.
The 'War on Waste' encourages buying less, wearing clothes longer, and extending their life through mending or swapping.
Food waste is a significant issue, with about a fifth of purchased food ending up thrown away.
Decomposition of food waste in landfills produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Craig Reucassel discusses the progress made since the last 'War on Waste' series and the need for continued efforts.
The 'War on Waste' series is available on iview, with new episodes released each Sunday of the month.
Transcripts
hi I'm Sam Hawley coming to you from
gadigal Land This is ABC News Daily
[Music]
we know fast fashion is incredibly
damaging for the environment have you
ever thought about what it's doing to
your health cheap fashion is full of
microplastics and you're almost
certainly breathing them in today war on
waste host Craig grew Castle on his
shock and rather uncomfortable discovery
[Music]
thank you
[Music]
Craig grew castle in the past six years
have you ever used a disposable coffee
cup I think I did use one actually
because I was it was a confusion of it
ordering ah I thought I'd ordered one in
a ceramic cup but I was given otherwise
and I guess by that time the damage had
been done so I drank it all right so not
your fault and of course your war on
waste series six years ago you went a
big way to encouraging Australians to
take reusable coffee cups to their
favorite cafes didn't you today I want
to convince the good people of Melbourne
to ditch their disposable coffee cups
and to bring a reusable cup instead yeah
yeah I mean and I guess that was just
the indication of an overall thing which
is that just generally if you can change
to reusables over single use it's better
overall and the coffee cup was just an
example of that I guess sorry guys you
can't get on this trailer with coffee
cups
what a waste
now you've been delving very deep into
our rubbish again and oh my Craig don't
we have a lot of them you even tried to
get some beach goers in manly in Sydney
to pick it up per se
nothing we'll see the Australia creates
2.6 million tons of plastic waste a year
uh which is about 100 kilos per person
so it's not your individual you're not
individually throwing that out but
that's overall our Australian kind of
plaster consumption we try to get people
to lift it and they struggled and we
struggled to lift our own plastic waste
use those muscles they look good can
they lift I can climb up
tell me while you've been trawling
through our rubbish what shocked you the
most this time look we did a little
experiment to find out how many
microplastics were inside me and it was
one I was kind of reticent about doing
yes uh not just the process but the you
know seeing the results microplastics
are a tiny bits of um plastic so I think
less than a millimeter in size so tiny
you can't see them with the naked eye
but you did establish that there was
lots in you how on Earth did you manage
to do that look I hate the details of
this but I had to provide a sample to
Professor Fred loosh at Griffith
University a sample of a sample of a poo
definitely yes okay so it's come from my
digestive tract uh all for a good cause
all for a good cause exactly what if I'm
fascinating about talking to Professor
Fred loose is that it's really in the
early stages like we don't actually know
a lot of the health consequences of this
yet the universe of chemicals that we're
dealing with on these and in these
microplastic is so large that it's a
huge amount of research
um which is really just scratching the
surface at the moment we are aware that
micro Plastics are in sea ice are in
ocean floor or in Birds fish are in beer
are in us but the question is to the how
much is in there and the actual impact
is so we're still at the early stages of
figuring out we've covered the globe
with a layer of microplastics by now
well I guess the next question is how
much is getting into us into us that's a
good question
[Music]
yeah I think that's something we
definitely want to know just remind me
Craig how many micro Plastics were in
you all right there was about it was
about 30 pieces of microplastics In Me
In from that one sample so the 30 bits
of plastic and they're long and that'd
be like little tiny little bits this
other what we call fibers okay so the
long ones are fibers according to the
scientists there it was about the
average so and again it'll probably it
can be different for different people
what shocked me about it interestingly
enough is that I think my presumption
was that the microplastics I would have
inside me would have come possibly from
the food chain we've obviously seen a
lot of reports over the years of
microplastics been found in water
bottles or or actual tap water as well
beer you know fish all of these types of
things you go okay well this has become
part of you know the human food chain is
that where they will come from from what
I've eaten or drunk the actual
microfibers that we did find inside I
mean most of them were actually
microfibers of polyester or Fabric and
that did surprise me and that would have
come predominantly through inhalations
through actually just breathing it
within the air and it's you know it's
either coming from clothing or you know
our carpets or our rugs or you know so
many things nowadays over 60 of clothing
and textiles are made by fossil fuels
made by plastic predominantly polyester
so that surprised me that that was the
major thing Within Me although there are
some other pieces as well you put it
together it's probably about a ping pong
ball size of fibers put together a year
okay so it's not just going through me
it could be becoming more part of our
bodies you're becoming a plastic man oh
my God
we spend all of this time trying to eat
well not to drink too much you know do
the best by our bodies and now you're
telling me we're full of microplastics
that's that's not great we need to kind
of pause and not overreact so for
instance that you know there are lots of
things that we ingest in small
quantities that don't necessarily have a
negative effect there's a lot about
quantity with plastics themselves as
well plastic in a sense is reasonably
inert so it's not necessarily that
plastic is going to do something
negative but but one of the complex
Parts about it is that when when
Plastics are made there's enormous
amount of other chemicals that go into
them this kind of stabilizers there's
fire retardants there's colorants
there's a massive amount of that so we
actually spoke to the scientists about
saying well can you take the kind of the
the sample you've found in me and kind
of then break down the next level which
is to find the chemicals in it
unfortunately we didn't have the time
and the kind of ability to be able to do
that yet but that's the kind of broader
question that is it may not be
specifically the piece of plastic but
maybe
what is being used to make that plastic
or is linked to that plastic and plastic
has also been shown in microplastics for
instance to be bad for coral life
because it kind of other microorganisms
attached to it and it kind of grow on it
so again it may not be necessarily the
plastic itself that does the damage but
it may be things associated with it
and you mentioned of course there's a
lot of these microplastics in clothing
and gosh don't we have a lot of clothing
we do and this is the fascinating thing
is that over 60 of our clothing is made
from plastic is made from fossil fuels
is predominantly over 50 is from
polyester and you have nylons and other
things as well and and that's really
interesting because it's actually one of
the ones to be honest that is difficult
to find a solution I've kind of been
hearing from people for years oh it's
okay we're going to put a filter on our
washing machines to solve this problem
and then I've spoken to people saying
well yeah kind of but to do that you
kind of need a washing machine you need
a kind of filter next to your washing
machine it's almost the same size as
your machine you know it's difficult to
actually do this now some of it actually
is picked up in the kind of the water
treatment plants can actually filter out
some of it and maybe that's where we
need to do it but at the moment
it's difficult to find a solution
because you know a lot of people say we
should just not have Plastics in
clothing we should go back to Natural
materials but obviously cotton which is
about 25 of our clothing it itself has a
kind of environmental footprint there's
a lot of you know enormous amounts of
water is used to to make cotton uh
there's obviously fertilizers used in
that as well and it has its own kind of
footprint and even things like wool
obviously sheep at the moment uh High
very high methane content because of
global warming so so it's kind of a
really difficult one because you go well
yes I can kind of potentially solve this
microplastic problem by shifting to all
natural fibers but that doesn't
necessarily overcome the overall
environmental footprint of fashion and
then that comes back to which is why the
major kind of message we give in the war
and waste is at the moment what's
happening is we're buying more and more
clothes and wearing them less and less
and we need to go the opposite way which
is to buy less wear longer extend the
life of clothes whether it be through
mending resale or otherwise swapping
because that's what then reduces that
overall environmental impact of fashion
[Music]
we're inhaling all these Plastics I'm
pretty sure every Australian would say
they don't want to be doing that no but
there doesn't seem to be there's not a
simple solution no no it really isn't
and and as I said the only thing I would
caution on is just to say look there are
some early studies that suggest that
maybe these Plastics may affect at
certain rates might affect reproduction
there's potential links to some cancers
but again I don't want to overscare
people we're at the early stages and it
depends on how much of course is in
there you know that the rates that were
inside me it's not necessarily I'm not
kind of freaking out at this point
whilst I'm not thrilled by the fact
either
[Music]
all right well Craig you had a win on
coffee cups the last time you did a
series like this what do you think you
might change this time interesting
interesting I look I think we you know
we're kind of going back to some of the
themes that we started with to see how
far we've come and we we have made some
really positive changes and that's been
great to see you know we have had some
single-use plastic bands we've really
had seen a fundamental change in
approach to for instance plastic bags
and shopping centers you know used to be
the single-use plastic ones just giving
out a will ever since they started
charging for those One supermarket
showed that now 80 of people are
actually bringing their own which is a
great example of changing your habits
has kind of reduced the waste overall
we've seen that happen there's been an
increase in All ganks Recycling I think
that's the area where really we need to
really ramp it up because again food
our food waste is one that we control a
lot in our own home we create a lot of
food waste in our own home about a fifth
of our the food that we buy we kind of
end up throwing out and that's something
we can control but also in Australia the
thing slightly outside of our control
sometimes is that you know if we dispose
of that if we don't have compost for
instance that ends up going to landfill
and food breaking down in landfill
without oxygen creates methane very
potent greenhouse gas and you know so
food waste is one that we really need to
be getting onto very quickly and
changing that habit very quickly yeah
all right and it is a war on waste isn't
it a real battle that we actually need
to solve what happens if we don't solve
this
well I mean look a lot of these waste
impacts do have not only long-term
effects in terms of litter in terms of
just the you know enjoyment of the
environment
they have long-term impacts in terms of
our use of resources you know often
dwindling resources as well so the fact
that we don't reuse these things or
recycle them or avoid them in the first
place means we're burning through the
resources that go into them and that
obviously then also has often a carbon
footprint has it has a global warming
footprint as well it's kind of a
single-use approach to living has a
carbon footprint
foreign
[Music]
Castle is the host of War on waste you
can find it on iview
this episode was produced by Veronica
app app Nell Whitehead and Sam Dunn who
also did the mix our supervising
producer is David Cohen just letting you
know each Sunday this month will be
bringing you an episode of if you're
listening with Matt Bevin so look out
for that in your feed
I'm Sam Hawley ABC news daily we'll be
back again on Monday thanks for
listening
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