Patagonia ha fatto una lavatrice

In a world where collaborations mostly focus on shoes or capsule collections, Patagonia has decided to produce a washing machine. Of course, it didn't produce it on its own but in collaboration with Samsung, the South Korean tech giant that last week unveiled a new machine whose washing cycle reduces the release of microplastics into the environment by 54 percent. As Samsung's official website explains: «Microplastics have a major impact on the environment, threatening not only the marine ecosystem but the health of the humans as well. It is estimated that the ocean floor alone is now home to over 14 million tons of microplastics, with 35 percent of marine microplastics coming from laundering clothes made from synthetic fibers. Scientists have also discovered that humans ingest the equivalent of one credit card of microplastics per week from the air we breathe and the water we drink». According to one of the experts who worked on the new machinery, Chiwoong Yoon, «The support from Patagonia heavily motivated us and gave us the confidence to accelerate the development of a practical solution and commercialize it».  In fact, the brand, which uses synthetics in many of its products, has been conducting studies on microplastics since 2014-studies that have been crucial to the project.  

As Samsung explains in its statement: «Samsung formed hypotheses based on various research materials provided by Patagonia and, with the help of Ocean Wise Plastics Lab, conducted actual tests to find the most effective laundering method for reducing microplastic shedding as well as the standard for measuring how effective the reduction was». After about a year of development, a washing cycle capable of reducing the shedding of microplastics was created through a patented technology named Ecobubble™ capable of dissolving detergent in water more effectively and avoiding abrasion. This system, among other things, protects the fabric by being gentler than traditional washing cycles, works even with cold water, and consumes 70 percent less energy. Samsung also said that the new washing machine is already available in Europe while the filter to collect microplastics will be available in the first half of the year, very soon the products will also be available in South Korea and the United States. Matt Dwyer, Head of Product Impact and Innovation at Patagonia, said:

«We’re in business to save the planet, but by virtue of making and selling stuff — and that stuff has an impact — that’s really where I spend my time thinking about the footprint and mitigation and not letting ‘perfect’ get in the way of us making progress».