What You Need to Know About Microplastics and the Planet - 30A

What You Need to Know About Microplastics and the Planet

By: Christy (Chick) Hughes | Posted Apr 22, 2019

Here’s the naked truth about clothing, microplastics, and the planet: everything we, as a planet, produce comes at a cost to the environment. The 30A Company, along with other clothing manufacturers, is onboard with the mission to help minimize this cost. The goal for all of us is to do less harm and help reduce humanity’s footprint.

First, Do Less Harm.

Open any one of your dresser drawers or just take a quick look at what you’re wearing right now. You’ll likely find polyester, nylon, acrylic, rayon, or spandex in the mix of fibers used to make your favorite go-to clothes. Everything from yoga pants to office attire is more than likely made from some combination of these synthetic materials.

The clothing industry relies more and more on synthetic materials to keep up with ever-growing fashion demands. And each time we wash clothes, tiny microfibers (fine synthetic yarn strands) shed into the water.

The last thing most anyone wants is to send synthetic micro-anything into the ocean where it can do harm to both marine life and the environment. 30A and other clothing brands continue their commitment to reduce the amount of plastic that is going into our landfills and oceans while paying close attention to the microfiber issues that arise.

What sparked 30A’s recycled clothing line?

In 2015 JoAnn Ribaudo, 30A’s chief operating officer, was on a fishing trip to the Seychelles islands and was horrified with the amount of plastic trash that she saw wash up on the beaches of these beautiful remote islands every day she was there. When she returned home, she began researching ways that 30A could make a difference with their clothing line by using recycled plastic. Her research led her to discover Unifi.



Unifi has made it their business to take the billions of one-time use plastic bottles that are thrown away each year and recycle them to make things we need and wear on a more regular basis – fashion!