The Guppy What now? I hear sou say. The Guppy Friend is a bag to do laundry, a bit like the ones you put your delicates in but with an entirely different purpose. A while ago I wrote a blog post about Microfibers and about how these tiny plastic particles make their way from our washing machines all the way to the digestive system of fish, and then into our digestive system. It's a very sexy subject, you should check it out! To summarize, our clothes shed plastic particles which are too small for water treatment plants to filter out and then pollute our waterways after we've done a laundry wash. The current best long-term fix would be to fit all washing machines with better filters, but for obvious reasons that's not cheap and not widely available yet...
This is where our Guppy Friend comes in. A german team from a company called LANGBRETT developed a bag that can filter out these particles and prevent them from going down the drain. This is such a clever and simple idea and can have a massive impact on how fashion affects marine life. This is one of the first products I got interested in when I set out on my ocean-friendly journey, and I've been testing it for a few months now.
THE BRAND
The Guppy Friend is made by a brand called Stop! Microwaste, which is dedicated to educating people on the problem of plastic and microfibers in rivers, lakes and oceans. They're a non-profit based in Berlin, Germany and were founded by the people from LANGBRETT, who are surfers and nature lovers. LANGBRETT is an outdoor equipment store for ethically conscious consumers. I'm not sponsored by them, I was just genuinely confused by all these names and wanted to clear it up!
THE BAG - HOW IT WORKS
The concept itself is quite simple, it's a simple washing bag where you can put synthetic clothing before putting all the laundry in the washing machine. Then during the wash cycle the mesh from the bag catches the pesky microfibers that would otherwise end up in the waterways. These are very small particles so it can take a good while to see an accumulation, but when you do it's easy to collect them to put them in the bin. The bag is large enough ( 50x74 cm ) to hold a normal amount of clothes and the zip closure is very sturdy. The fabric itself is super smooth and I can't imagine it damaging clothes, if anything I'm pretty sure it protects garments from the machine. If you're insure about which pieces of clothing you should put in the Guppy Friend, you can check out my little guide to fabrics, everything synthetic goes in the bag!
Would you be interested in a series about eco-friendly laundry?
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See you next Sunday xx
3 comments
I’m a tad confused with the Guppy friend concept. The micro fibres that are collected in the bag, will need to be removed. I assume this micro waste then goes into landfill, which in turn still ends up in the sea? Would love to know more!
I’ve been looking into the issue of recycling the microfibres. I read on a news article that you are supposed to collecte the fibers and put them in the recycling bin. it makes sense
What I do not see is how do you clean the bag so that you can reuse it? Obviously not in the sink sice then again the micrifibers would go down the drain. Is it with your hands and then you throw it to the waste so that eventualy (I think) they are burned?