A Guppyfriend against microplastics

Saint Basics 02 Feb 2022

In January 2024 Shop Like You Give a Damn acquired Saint Basics. This is why all the editorial content that founders Peter and Anita created with so much dedication, is now featured amongst our blogs.

We have recently added the Guppyfriend washing bag to our collection, and with good reason! The Guppyfriend allows you to safely wash your clothes, without letting any microscopic plastic parts into the water. This helps to protect our planet even more.

You’ve probably heard the term ‘plastic soup’ and seen the images of enormous islands of plastic in the ocean. But did you know your clothing releases tonnes of microplastics into the water too? Especially clothing made from polyester and polyamide (most sports clothing, sexy lingerie, but also fleece sweaters) causes enormous amounts of pollution. It’s basically all plastic. The Guppyfriend washing bag stops those parts from entering the water.

What are microplastics?
The term is pretty self explanatory, they are microscopic plastic parts that enter the water in all kinds of ways. Because the parts are so small they’re difficult to collect, but easily ingested by fish. Who end up on your plate with their bodies filled with plastic fibres, which in turn get eaten by you. Not a nice thought and also bad for your health!

Here you'll find all of your questions on microplastics answered – and learn more about what you can do to make a difference.

How can I minimize my impact?
By shopping consciously you can hugely reduce your own impact. But even sustainable clothing often contains a small amount of plastic. Sometimes the fabric is partly made from recycled plastics (PET-bottles, fishnets). Which is great for reducing the harvest of raw materials, but not so great when it comes to microplastics. We at Saint Basics use a small amount of elastane to give our clothing some stretch and ensure a good fit. That can create microplastics, which the Guppyfriend filters out.

How does the Guppyfriend help?
When it’s time to wash your clothing you can put it inside the Guppyfriend washing bag, which collects any microplastics. Once you’ve finished your laundry you can easily remove the remnants from the bag and recycle them with your (plastic) waste. Not only that, but the Guppyfriend helps your clothing last longer. Research shows on average 86% fewer fibres of synthetic clothing break when washed with the washing bag! We would recommend the Guppyfriend to everyone. Use it for our basics, but especially for any of your clothing that likely contains a lot of plastic.