Wool's the winner - AgResearch study finds wool is safer for the marine environment. The marine environment is increasingly under threat from micro plastic pollution and this science from AgResearch's Stewart Collie and team demonstrates that wool, when shed through use or cleaning, won't persist in acquatic environments. Wool Impact's Andy Caughey was pleased to be able to contribute to this story by NZFarmer.
Flip through to page 17 for a recent in NZ Farmer article that I was interviewed for, about the environmental benefits of wool – I’m very pleased with how it came together. It references some of our recent research, but goes much further, including input from Andy Caughey at Wool Impact Limited. https://lnkd.in/gPnJHx7i As well as talking about wool, I wanted to make the point that synthetic plastics are remarkable materials but the way we are using them is unsustainable, e.g. single use products, ultra-fast-fashion (which is pretty much a single-use product as well), etc. The key takeaway from our recent work is to show that even wool products that have been modified to make them easy-care are biodegradable in a multitude of environments, meaning that garments at end of life, or the fibres that are inevitably shed during use and laundering, won’t persist in the environment. Once you’ve read that, flip one more page and check out a story about AgResearch’s recent MBIE Smart Idea grants, including one about novel biomaterials from wool!