The skin of your laundry pods dissolve in the washing machine, right?
They dissolve into microplastic.
And wastewater treatment systems have no way to filter that out so the microplastics go straight into streams and the ocean.
Just pour your laundry soap out of a box or bottle.
Okay, this post kind of fractalled into multiple conversation threads, thank you to everyone who participated! I learned a lot.
First, PVA, the skin of laundry pods, is a plastic. Yes, it dissolves in water (under selected conditions). But it doesn't go away. On this planet, there is no "away":
"Dissolve does not mean disappear. Salt is technically soluble in water, but if you pour a bunch of salt in a glass of water, you very much taste it. It’s still there."
https://plasticoceans.org/pva-detergent-pods-gone-but-not-forgotten/
"In order for #PVA to #biodegrade, special PVA-adapted microbes need to be added at high levels and for long durations. Currently, most water treatment facilities do not sufficiently treat PVA in water, and therefore poses a series of environmental and safety concerns. "
Also:
"the production of PVA film involves heavy environmental and safety burdens in carcinogenic toxins, ozone depletion, acidification, eutrophication, and fossil fuel depletion."
https://dirtylabs.com/blogs/the-dirt/ask-dr-pete-are-laundry-pods-and-sheets-really-sustainable
I will now stop using laundry pods.
Even while acknowledging that their contribution to microplastics is small.
The major contributors to microplastics in the oceans:
Synthetic textiles
(They make me sweat unpleasantly, so I stay away from those, too),
Car tires
(why I bike: skinny tires, a lot less wear!)
City dust
(Guessing that includes the two above, plus house paint and such).
From:
https://www.statista.com/chart/17957/where-the-oceans-microplastics-come-from/
Research from the Fraunhofer Institut shows that in Germany, tire wear is the single largest source of microplastics, and it's much larger than the next source which is -- wait for it -- abrasion of plastic from road surfaces.
Sounds like Germans like to burn rubber (except that car tires are no longer ctual rubber but a composite containing lots of plastic).
https://www.celticwater.co.uk/bloghow-does-plastic-get-into-the-ocean-plastic-pollution-from-roads/
@CelloMomOnCars SHOES? More from shoes than from synthetic fibers in laundry? Wow. Now I'm trying to figure out alternatives for places that aren't friendly to bare feet (I went barefoot a lot as a kid in FL, only cut my foot badly twice).
