‘Ick’ factor prompts people to wash less to save planet, study suggests

The ‘ick’ factor is keeping people from washing less to save the planet, according to new research. Most adults today would lean toward “green” lifestyle choices, but not at the expense of being clean, the study suggests.

When it comes to our washing habits, scientists have found that the fear of being perceived as “dirty” often overrides the desire to act in an environmentally friendly way. And the more inclined we are to feel disgusted—the more we wash our clothes, according to findings published in the journal PLOS One.

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, examined the driving forces behind laundry habits. People today are washing clothes more than ever before, and emissions from washing have never been higher.

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In 2015, the average European washed four car loads a week. While this is 0.7 loads less than in 2000, it is still a sharp increase as washing machine capacity has increased over the same period. According to previous research, up to a third of global microplastic emissions come from the washing of synthetic fibers.

Among the reasons, scientists say, are that people wear each garment fewer times before tossing it in the laundry basket, and advances in technology have made laundry easier and cheaper. Study leader Erik Klint said: “Even though cars have become more energy efficient, how often we choose to wash has the biggest impact on the climate, and we’ve never done as much washing as we do now. Over time, most of us seem disinterested in changing our washing behaviors to reduce our climate impact.”

The new study examined the underlying mechanisms of excessive washing from a psychological perspective. He focused on two driving forces that affect washing behavior: environmental identity, how strongly we identify with the group of environmentally conscious people, and how inclined we are to have feelings of disgust.

PhD student Mr Klint said: “We humans are constantly faced with various conflicting goals. In this case, there is a conflict between the desire to reduce washing to save the environment and the fear of being perceived as a disgusting person with dirty clothes.

“Disgust is a powerful psychological and social driving force. The study shows that the higher our sensitivity to disgust, the more we wash, regardless of whether we highly value our ecological identity. The feeling of disgust simply overcomes the awareness of the environment.”

He says that disgust is an “evolutionary emotion” that basically functions as a protection against infection or dangerous substances. The feeling of disgust is also closely related to the feeling of shame, so it can have an influence in social contexts as well.

Mr Klint said: “We humans don’t want to do things that risk challenging our position in the group, such as being associated with someone who doesn’t take care of their hygiene. Here, an evolutionarily rooted driving force is pitted against a moral point of view, and in most cases it is possible to react to that evolutionary emotion.”

He says the study shows that today’s campaigns and messages to get people to act in an environmentally friendly way have the wrong starting point, as they often fail to consider the psychological aspects behind people’s behaviour. Mr Klint said: “It doesn’t matter how smart and research-based your argument is, if it goes against people’s various driving forces, such as wanting to feel a sense of belonging to a group, then they won’t work .”

He says that instead of asking, “How do we get people to wash less” or “How do we do it in a greener way?” the focus should instead be on the indirect behavior that leads to the actual washing.

Mr. Klint suggests that a better question is “How do we get people to generate less laundry, especially laundry that needs to be cleaned by a washing machine?” He said: “You do laundry because the laundry basket is full, because your favorite sweater is dirty, or because there is a free laundry slot in your shared laundry.

“Therefore, the focus needs to be on what happens before the washing machine is run, that is, the underlying behaviors that create the need to wash. For example, how much laundry we generate, how we sort clothes in the machine or when we think the washing machine is full.”

One of the main suggestions of the study is to encourage people to use clothes more often before they end up in the laundry basket. Mr Klint said: “It could be about targeting over-washing, with messages like ‘most people use their t-shirt more than once.’ But also replacing the use of the washing machine with other actions, such as airing the clothes, removing dirt or removing individual stains by hand.

“One way might be to highlight the economic case here, because clothes wear out when they go through the machine.”

Study co-author Professor Gregory Peters says the research is a unique combination of behavioral and natural sciences. He said: “This study is part of a wider thesis that goes beyond the usual research framework for LCA life cycle assessments and has made it possible to create a more holistic understanding of how we wash and what drives washing behaviour.” .

Prof Peters added: “The direct result we hope is to help reduce the environmental impact of laundry, but it is possible that the research can be generalized to other areas where behavior and technology interact.”