The Woolmark Company has launched a new campaign to educate consumers about the environmental impact of synthetic fibers and draws on new research from the company.
The campaign, titled “Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel,” uses provocative imagery to illustrate the relationship between synthetic clothing and the petroleum used to make it, while also promoting natural fibers.
The Woolmark Company is an organization that works with 60,000 Australian wool producers to research, develop and certify Australian wool.
In an image from the new campaign, two sides of a model are juxtaposed, one wearing a wool sweater against a picturesque backdrop of blue skies and green hills, while the other half is covered in jet black oil, with the background being dark and sombre, as there would be a storm.
In a 60-second video, a group of people struggle to get out of a swimming pool filled with oil. Woolmark said this was a nod to the finding that an Olympic-size swimming pool’s worth of crude oil is used every 25 minutes to make synthetic clothing, which accounts for nearly 350 million barrels a year.
Although more than a third of consumers worldwide are willing to pay more for sustainability, fibers play no role at all in their purchasing decisions, according to the Woolmark study.
It also revealed that eight out of ten people still don’t know that synthetic fabrics are derived from fossil fuels, which the campaign aims to address.
While synthetic materials currently account for 65 percent of all fiber use, that number is expected to rise to 73 percent by 2030, according to Woolmark chief executive John Roberts.
“The impact these garments have during their use and at the end of their life cannot be underestimated. In fact, it’s been claimed that 50 billion plastic bottles’ worth of microfibers end up in wastewater every year just from washing,” Roberts said.
“Science shows that wool fibers biodegrade both on land and in the sea. So we know that merino wool does not contribute to microplastic pollution,” added Roberts.
Woolmark’s new campaign is designed for advertising films and out-of-home advertising (OOH) and is also accessible via the company’s German website. First activities are planned for September in the USA, Great Britain, France and Australia.
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This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.uk. Translated and edited by Simone Preuss.