Fast fashion is being blamed in part for a shocking discovery in Lake Wānaka.
Sampling of the waters of the beautiful South Island tourist spot has found microplastics at all 10 sites and it's prompted a call for Kiwis to be more conscious of their clothing choices.
Lake Wānaka is renowned for its natural beauty and clear water fed by the Matukituki and Makarora Rivers, but even the seemingly pristine lake isn't free from some of the planet's tiniest pollutants.
Marine scientist Veronica Rotman was surprised at just how many microplastics she found, cautioning that though some will be natural fibres, the bulk are likely to be plastic.
"You still would not expect to see what we have seen under the microscope in this environment," Rotman said.
Rotman's research project is a collaboration between the University of Auckland and Otago University, and supported by Wānaka water quality not-for-profit, WAI Wānaka.
Microplastics are plastic particles smaller than 5mm in diameter, and their impact on fish includes reduced fertility, toxicity, inflammation and stunted growth.
The next stage of Rotman's research is to sample snow in the alpine environments, because microplastics there can make their way down to the waterways and eventually out to sea.
Rotman said the findings show we need to think more about the effect of our clothing on the environment.
"Our exercise gear, we're out there doing it, causing agitation, even us moving can release fibres," she said.
In a mountain town like Wānaka, there is the uncomfortable truth that activities that Rotman herself enjoys like tramping, ski touring and skiing might be contributing to the problem.
"It makes me really uncomfortable, but I really believe that we can come together especially as an outdoors community and innovate and look at other solutions, what can we wear, [such as] natural fibres."
She advises buying fewer clothes, buying secondhand and choosing natural fibres like cotton, silk, merino and linen, as well as washing clothes less.
A local not-for-profit has supported the research effort and created a citizen science method they hope to take to communities around New Zealand.
WAI Wānaka education lead Jose Cranfield said it was important for the project to incorporate community action alongside research.
"The aim is to produce a method at the end of it, a citizen science method, that our community can use to continue to monitor the data," Cranfield said.
"So Veronica's provided a baseline with her research of what's going on across Lake Wānaka, but now we can connect with little bits of our community, so a swimming club might want to take samples and measure the microplastics where they're swimming."
Cranfield said over 30 people in the community had volunteered their time to help Rotman collect her samples.
Rotman said the data is needed to help people understand the problem and also to push for policy change, such as the recent move in France to make microfibre filters compulsory on new washing machines.
"There's not much data available and politicians' biggest excuses for doing absolutely not much is often lack of data, so let's solve this."
Rotman's research will be published early next year.
