Are our laundry habits killing the planet?

With laundry accounting for one-quarter of the carbon footprint of clothing, according to Stella McCartney’s Clevercare initiative, there is an increasing need to encourage sustainable garment care among consumers after purchase.

Fashion platform Not Just a Label recently worked with appliance manufacturer AEG on the Care Label Project, an awareness campaign that aims to reduce the environmental impact of washing clothes. A new Don’t Overwash care label has been added to 18,200 garments in an effort to challenge the dated laundry habits that many consumers adopt. According to AEG, 70% of consumers inherit their laundry habits from their parents, and are unaware that both washing machine and material technology have changed.