Green Weenie of the Week: Yoga Pants?

Power Line Blog   "Is yoga ruining the planet? I doubt it, but if yoga comes in for some slagging from the Green Weenies I’m happy to play along. And not exactly yoga, but yoga pants! So says Heat Street:

Yoga Pants, ‘Active Wear’ Are Destroying the Oceans

Comfortable clothes are emerging as a source of plastic that’s increasingly ending up in the oceans and potentially contaminating seafood, according to Gulf Coast researchers launching a two-year study of microscopic plastics in the waters from south Texas to the Florida Keys.

The project, led by the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, will rely partly on volunteers participating in coastal cleanup events. It also will expand a year’s worth of data collected around the state of Florida that predominantly found microfibers — shreds of plastic even smaller than microbeads flowing down bathroom sinks and shower drains.

Yoga pants, Patagonia’s cozy jackets, sweat-wicking athletic wear and other garments made from synthetic materials shed microscopic plastic fibers — called “microfibers” — when they’re laundered. Wastewater systems flush the microfibers into natural waterways, eventually reaching the sea.

"I especially like it that the report singles out Patagonia, which is the most environmentally sanctimonious sporting apparel company anywhere. (I refuse to buy any Patagonia products for this reason.)"