Going a week without washing your underwear isn’t for everyone. Thankfully, there are other, more palatable compromises you can make to ensure your washing routine is more environmentally friendly.
Here’s how to reduce the carbon footprint of your laundry, saving water, power and even some money.
Slow down your shopping
Well before you launder, you can start by avoiding fast fashion and trying to shop sustainably. Not only do cheap clothes not last as long, most microplastics released into wastewater by synthetic fabrics come out in the first two or three washes. Try to resist seeking out a revolving door of new clothes and opt for long-lasting cotton, wool and natural fibres.
Instead of adding to the 15kg of clothes bought by Australians every year, companies including The Clothing Exchange host clothes swaps, and secondhand marketplaces like Depop are popular avenues to give your clothes a new lease on life or pick up some hand-me-downs. And then, of course, there are charity shops.
Start small, wash less
If not your underwear, consider doing fewer washes on your outerwear and favourite jeans. Spot cleaning or light hand washes using eco-friendly stain remover bars or age-old products like Sunlight laundry soap reduce the reliance on high-chemical alternatives and multiple washing cycles in the machine.
If you are going to put on a load, be sure to fill up the machine – half loads of laundry lead to more wash cycles and more detergent. The amount you can fit in your machine might surprise you, as this graphic from consumer advocacy group Choice illustrates.
Hot ‘n’ cold
According to the Climate Council’s 2023 Smarter Energy Use report, heating water for hot showers and cleaning clothes accounts for around a quarter of the energy used in our homes.
Washing your clothes on cold can reduce energy used by 80%, and does almost exactly the same job.
“When we did a comparison, we found only about 2-3% difference in terms of dirt removal,” says Ashley Iredale, a team leader and expert in whitegoods at Choice.
Front-loading washing machines are also more efficient than top loaders, using less energy and water – top loaders can use up to 226 litres of water a load, compared with about 45 litres a load for a front loader.
If you must let the water run hot, think about swapping instant or gas storage water heaters with an efficient electric heat pump or solar hot water heater to bring down bills and emissions.
Selecting your suds
Laundry detergent is among the most toxic chemicals in the home, and there is little need to fill a scoop to the brim, despite back-of-the-box instructions.
“We found you can get a great wash for as little as a third or even a quarter of a scoop of detergent,” says Iredale.
“You’ll probably find you’re using a lot more detergent than you actually need. And if you switch from a top loader to a front loader because they use less water, you need less detergent again.”
A ranking of 70 common detergents by Choice in partnership with Shop Ethical showed that of 13 brands, Ecostore was the only one with an “A” rating for sustainability, with Earth Choice and Bosisto’s products the next best choices.
“Soap berries” or “nuts” are all natural, and so have minimal impact on the environment, but Choice has previously questioned their effectiveness at removing stains. Iredale says they have not conducted in-depth testing on different brands though, or the various ‘natural’ soap bars and detergents sold by independent, sustainability-focused brands in Australia.
Detergent sheets are increasingly being called out as greenwashing, with the founder of Australian eco-store Biome, Tracey Bailey, and the Washington Post scrutinising their use of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a synthetic plastic material. Detergent sheets’ dishwasher equivalent have also proven useless in the kitchen.
As for fabric softener, Choice recommends ditching the product entirely to save money, having found it does little more than plain water to make your towels cuddly.
Fold it away
Once washed, dry your clothes outside where possible (after a high spin cycle in the wash). As power bills remain high, carbon footprinting expert Mike Berners-Lee estimates that a household running a dryer 200 times a year could save nearly half a tonne of CO2 equivalent by switching to a clothes rack or washing line.
Ditch plastic on the clothes line, and buy stainless steel (long lasting) or wooden (biodegradable) pegs.
Cut out ironing by washing clothes in a laundry bag to prevent creasing, hanging up with sturdy pegs, and folding immediately.
End of the cycle
While the average washing machine can last 10 to 15 years, Iredale says they can still perform well when well looked after.
“You’ve got to factor in the materials and the resources that go into manufacturing that new washing machine, and also what’s going to happen to your old one when you kick it to the curb,” he says.
“Make sure you keep it clean, give it a bit of TLC … and then at the end of life, look for ways that you could recycle it.”
Washed and worn out, your clothes can be recycled too. One such company, Upparel, estimates every kilo of clothing diverted from landfill prevents three to four kilos of greenhouse gases. You can also compost some clothes made of natural fibres, and moves are being made to introduce textile compostability standards.
Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint. Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.com
