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Don't buy fleece?
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Home › Forums › General Forums › General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion › Don't buy fleece?
- This topic has 21 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 2 months ago by Ethan A..
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Sep 20, 2017 at 11:34 pm #3492202
I love my fleece layers, but this:
made me sad, thinking about not buying fleece again. Thoughts?
Sep 21, 2017 at 8:19 am #3492248I heard that too
I think we have to stop buying other synthetic fabric too, and other plastic packaging, and products that ship or are manufactured with plastic, which is about everything : )
We need to replace all plastics with versions that bio-degrade
Sep 21, 2017 at 8:25 am #3492250Patagonia seems to have taken a pro-active lead in this issue (at least they recognize the existence of the problem). See their response here. I think that the first take away is to re-use what you have as long as possible as the shedding is highest in newer garments. The statement of staying away from less expensive fleece may be more of a marketing stance. In all likelihood, it may be time to review other option like merino wool again. my 2 cents
Sep 21, 2017 at 8:49 am #3492260That story mentioned that shellfish had a lot of plastic particles in them. They thought likely the plastic in all the structures used to grow the shellfish were shedding plastic particles the shellfish were consuming.
They have those gyres of plastic in the middle of the oceans. From plastic bottles and all sorts of products. Walk along the beach in an ocean wild area and it’s amazing how much crap there is.
That’s fine for consumers to not buy particular products, but this problem has to be addressed from a much bigger perspective.
There is some worm that is able to metabolize about half of the plastic out there. They could take the gene from that worm and put it into common organisms found in the ocean, and then scatter them on the plastic in the ocean? Of course, many people would be skeptical of this : )
Sep 21, 2017 at 10:52 pm #3492472Ive seen this movie Jerry … and this is what crawls out of the sea 5 years after screwing with your mutant worms!!!
Sep 22, 2017 at 7:08 am #3492514Of course, many people would be skeptical of this
Sep 23, 2017 at 6:17 am #3492714I’ve only been aware of the nanofibre pollution problem for a few months but I now filter the water from the washing machine and incinerate the resultant fibre filtrate as well as the dryer fluff thinking that this is by far the lesser of the evils
Sep 23, 2017 at 9:54 am #3492747Edward, what type of filter do you use to catch the fibers from your washing machine before they drain into waste water?
Part of the solution is simply people buying less crap they don’t need. I’ll bet the average consumer has tons of cheap fleece clothing they hardly ever wear and often discard.
I’ve never been a clothes horse but even I’ve gone through a simplification process realizing there are only so many items of clothing or outdoor clothing that I really use, and everything else except for a few loaner pieces got sold or donated. Makes organization and packing much easier too.
Sep 23, 2017 at 9:59 am #3492750nm
Sep 23, 2017 at 10:59 am #3492758“Part of the solution is simply people buying less crap they don’t need”
If you buy stuff and throw it in landfill then there’ll be no plastic in the ocean
If you just washed your clothes less often that would help. Plus less enregy (CO2) and water (for you desert dwellers like California). : )
Sep 23, 2017 at 11:04 am #3492761Buying and burying plastic seems a really inefficient method of carbon sequestration.
Sep 23, 2017 at 3:33 pm #3492806@Ethan Just the usual filter pad fabric sold for air conditioners and swimming pool filters. We just use a conical swimming pool prefilter it seems to do the job quite well, We do not send our grey water to sewerage – we use it to irrigate the lemon and apricot trees in the back yard so we use a medium sized surge tank
Sep 23, 2017 at 4:01 pm #3492810“Buying and burying plastic seems a really inefficient method of carbon sequestration.”
Yeah, it would be better to not buy so much stuff : )
“we use it to irrigate the lemon and apricot trees in the back yard ”
Good on you. Makes the best use of water. And no plastic in the ocean. I wonder what the long term effect of putting micro plastic bits into the soil. Probably not a big deal.
Nov 3, 2017 at 7:14 pm #3500102My use of fleece in the past included weight gain from perspiration as well as sticking to my first layer which reduced my hiking efficiency due to lack of freedom of motion. Although fleece is available in thinner form today for improved moisture transport – No fleece here thank you. My first layer is a polypropylene zip neck long sleeve shirt, a hydrophobic synthetic and lighter than polyester. It has sensible warmth versus polyester – tried and true for decades. My .second layer is a wool crew neck sweater. That combination has proven valuable hiking mountains in the low 50’s with wind chill where others were wearing three layers of what ever materials including as well an insulated jacket. I’m normally a cold temperature type.
Nov 3, 2017 at 7:25 pm #3500105I wear nylon base layer + Goretex jacket down to below freezing
Polypropylene would be a good base layer too, I just happen to have nylon
If you have too much insulation, then you’ll start sweating. That’s the biggest thing to focus on, rather than trying to have breathable layers. If I wore an additional fleece layer I’d sweat.
Nov 4, 2017 at 4:59 am #3500190All of these microfibre synthetics have this pollution problem, not just fleece and pile, and it doesn’t seem to matter what base synthetic is used they all seem to produce nanofibre waste when washed and as they wear
Nov 17, 2017 at 10:11 am #3502589packaging (especially water bottles) and industrial processes dwarf the contribution by clothing. if you want to reduce your impact, reduce your consumption of disposable material first.
switching to wool seems like a good idea, but to replace all synthetics with natural fibers would require a ridiculous amount of sheep. serious ecological consequences from raising them is one of many issues. there is no perfect solution… reduce, reuse, recycle.
Nov 17, 2017 at 6:02 pm #3502637get everyone on your holiday gift list one of these…
http://www.patagonia.com/product/guppyfriend-washing-bag/O2191.html
Nov 18, 2017 at 4:54 am #3502735Throw them in the rubbish and they still wind up in the waterways. Burning is probably a safer long term option, especially polypropylene, Polypro when burned is relatively innocuous no worse than paper at worst and at best cleaner, ditto PET and other polyethylenes in the small quantities we are talking about
Nov 22, 2017 at 7:57 am #3503456As Pogo, the cartoon swamp possum used to say, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Jan 1, 2018 at 5:28 pm #3510360There are 3 types of Fleece
- A woollen coat of a domestic sheep or long-haired goat, especially after being sheared (but before being processed into yarn or thread)
- Polar fleece, a type of polyester fabric
- Horticultural fleece, a polypropylene fabric used to protect plants
Use the woolen one not the polar one if your interested in keeping plastics out of the environment, switching to <b>Polypropylene </b>is worse not better. Find a natural fabric that’s waterproof and lighter than Dyneema and I’ll be right with you, until then I’m keeping my Z-pack tent and all my other plastics till they no longer work then I’ll recycle. I spent a few years working with the Texas A&M chemical Oceanography department and while Yes this is a major problem the solution is not to give up fleece, but please use the same water bottle as long as you can, use all your equipment as long as possible then hand it down to someone else, and above all recycle,reuse and when it comes time to replace, Think long and hard about what you are doing.
Jan 17, 2018 at 9:24 pm #3512953Further exacerbating the situation: No One Wants Your Used Clothes Anymore
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