What is Guppyfriend?
Guppyfriend is a laundry bag that both protects your clothes so less microplastics break off, and it also works as a filter to catch microplastic fibres and prevent them from polluting the water. The bag is designed so it does not release any fibres itself during the wash. The brand has different goals but their main goal is to increase awareness of microplastic pollution. They do this by disseminating knowledge through education and by opening business dialogues.
What kind of clothes should I put in a Guppyfriend laundry bag?
synthetic textiles release the most harmful microplastics
All textiles release microfibres but synthetic textiles release the most harmful ones. Polyester, nylon and acrylic are some of the most common ones but there are loads more. Unfortunately, labels don’t always accurately report clothes composition so best to play it safe and wash all clothes in your Guppyfriend unless you’re 100% sure it’s an all natural material. Make sure you don’t just wash it afterwards though as you’ll just release all the microplastics straight back into the water. Just remove the trapped fibres from the bag and if you’re in Belgium, throw them away in the normal bin. They’ll be incinerated and won’t end up in nature that way.
Charities
Guppyfriend gives the proceeds from sales to STOP! Micro Waste and STOP! Plastic Academy. STOP! Plastic Academy raise awareness about plastic pollution and educate students, adults and industry partners. STOP! Micro Waste researches ideas to avoid, replace and reuse plastic.
Make a new friend and buy yourself a Guppyfriend – help keep microplastics out of our rivers and oceans!
