this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024
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28
Are you worried about microplastics? (lemmy.world)
submitted 6 months ago by Aurelius@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
23 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I've been more and more conscious about microplastics. I was not aware that the laundry and dishwasher pods are just plastic which then goes into the water system.

What can be done to prevent microplastics?

all 24 comments
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[–] polygon6121@lemmy.world 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I assume you mean the clear plastic around the pods that gets sticky when you touch it with wet hands. Relevant YouTube short with Hank Green https://youtube.com/shorts/mm997MpLNeA?si=ZdBiX7ZTjbpLQMLS TLDW: you don't have to worry about this kind of plastic it is water soluble and turns into water and carbon dioxide when burned I believe.

Yes I am worried about microplastics in everyday things, for example drinking water from my tap. I am also worried about using plastics for anything food related that is heated up. As such i have removed all plastic containers in our kitchen that would be used near or with heat. Any containers remaining is only for cold foods and dry storage.

[–] Aurelius@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Hank Green makes me feel slightly better about the laundry/dish pods. I love that guy and he's wicked smart

[–] julianh@lemm.ee 1 points 6 months ago

I still wouldn't use them for dishwashers. They're overpriced and usually are worse than a standard detergent https://youtu.be/_rBO8neWw04

[–] thantik@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Aren't laundry and dishwasher pods basically gelatin? Which isn't plastic, it's made from animal collagen.

Edit: I have educated myself, and it's PVA; which is essentially wood-glue. PVA is a biodegradable acetate which dissolves completely in water.

[–] Aurelius@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

It seems that some are made of PVA. It is disputed how damaging PVA is in the water system. New York is considering a ban on it

[–] moistclump@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I bet the bigger impact/microplastic culprit is the clothes themselves.

[–] Aurelius@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That's a really good point. It's unfortunate that polyester tends to be the go-to cheap option for clothes

[–] buzz86us@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

I just hope we can swap them out for hemp ASAP.. I really want to get to the point where hemp is only a few bucks more and an elimination of corn subsidies along with a virgin plastics tariff could go a long way

[–] Gigan@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yes. Almost half of all microplastic particles are fibers from synthetic clothing. So I avoid buying clothes that are not made with natural materials. I also avoid single use plaatics as much as I can and recycle as much as I can.

[–] Aurelius@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Same. I reduce usage when I can. If not, then I try to at least reuse it (such as a plastic bag). Last resort is to recycle.

Unfortunately, plastic recycling seems to largely be a scam (in that it doesn't actually get recycled)

[–] Gigan@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, very little plastic actually gets recycled but its better than none of it.

[–] Aurelius@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

I think the issue is that people feel empowered to use plastic because they think it ultimately will be recycled.

NPR has done various reporting on this, but essentially the players in the plastic industry have long known that plastic recycling did not work but they actively promoted it (knowing that it would increase plastic usage)

[–] someguy3@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Are you worried about consumption of micro plastics, or contributing to the micro plastic problem?

[–] Aurelius@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Both

[–] Fiivemacs@lemmy.ca 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Why worry about something I can't control. The sack of meat I call a body will only take so much abuse from the world's oligarchs before it gives up..their bodies too.

I can rearrange me life to the most extremes, but my neighbour will still burn garbage and consume twice as much as I ever will within a week. There's no stopping this until companies are held accountable and the rich are jailed, which we all know will never happen.

[–] HollandJim@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Spoken like a true person under 40

[–] dingus@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I don't get it. Not worrying about things you can't control is an "under 40" take? It seems like a sane human take regardless of age.

[–] HollandJim@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The “why worry what I can’t control” is the under-40 part, but to be honest I initially considered under-30.

But by 40 you’d more likely than not have or care about children, and then you’d be worrying more about the the world you leave for them. Since they’re always copying you, you’d be more aware that every action has consequences, and that includes cynicism (especially since, by 40, you’re more likely to accept the idea that you don’t know everything).

Maybe by then it’d be in your self-interest to make the world better even by little increments instead of wearing sarcasm like a cloak of invisibility.

[–] JDubbleu@programming.dev 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Because many of us were thrust into an extremely fucked up world where caring all the time will give you anxiety and leave you feeling hopeless. It's much more productive to focus your efforts on things you can control instead of being upset about the things you can't. I'm very conscious of the world I leave behind. I respect nature, don't litter, don't own a car, limit my meat intake, and most importantly I'm not having children. All of these things will contribute to a better world, but they don't require me to care about anything outside of my control.

This has nothing to do with age, and everything to do with trying to be okay in an increasingly more depressing world. I just want to exist and not dread everything all the time.

[–] HollandJim@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Okay, so let’s blame boomers for it, shall we then?

Would it have been better for you in the 60s, with the Cold War? 50s during the Red Scare? Hope you’re not a writer..

How about the 40s, with WWII? 30s & 20s, with the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl? Maybe the teens - nah, WWI. How about the poverty, plague conditions (a la Sinclair Lewis) and the diseases of the early Industrial Revolution? No? Okay - how about the agrarian 1800s, but then there’s slavery and civil war.. and on, and on throughout history.

I hate to say it, but comparatively we’re in a Golden Age - and it is decaying. We celebrate billionaires like they’re rock stars and re-elect politicians who do nothing for the working man (and woman), but instead go on fake crusades that serve no-one but their self interests. Wokism, the rights of eggs, guns before people, and today no divorce if you’re pregnant - it’s like the Red Scare all over again, and anyone who doesn’t align with it is an “Enemy of the People” - except it’s the actual people that suffer.

It’s not a Generation - every generation gets dumped into the shit the previous one made - it’s the Politics. When some politicians take one half of us and then point at the other half and say “they’re why you suffer”, it’s a lie. We fight amongst ourselves so they can prosper.

Fight, by all means, but fight for better representation and make sure they stick to the promises they make. And not just representation in our politicians but also in work. Unions can and have been a force of good for the average worker - support them so your one voice can make a difference.

Fight the good fights. Don’t waste your time fighting each other for scraps, for lies, for someone’s else’s power.

[–] JDubbleu@programming.dev 0 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I wasn't blaming it on anyone. I was just explaining why so many young people, myself included, choose to not give any thought to things they can't control. It's not worth the mental energy and will make you depressed and miserable. I'm all for fighting for things that can be changed, but there's only so much one person can do. Prioritizing what one can give effort to is a much better way to go about it than stressing out about everything wrong with the world.

[–] HollandJim@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Not to berate you, but your response is as if this is something new for your generation. We all go through this shit unless we're insulated from it by daddy's money or power.

Is it worth your mental energy to fight for change? I'd say it is - over time, it's the only thing that has worked. Letting it slip for someone else to fix is exactly what screws us over, generation to generation.

Hang in there - we're all in this together. As I said before, fight the good fight.

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world -1 points 6 months ago

I don't sit around thinking about microplastics. Microplastics are something to worry about when you are making purchases, but not something you can realistically worry about while living the rest of your life.

Most of your microplastics aren't coming from your tide pods anyway. They actually come from plastic fibers in your clothing that get abraded in your washer and dryer.

What can you do about it? Try to use glass, metal and ceramic cookware. Avoid teflon cookware. Purchase clothing that has all natural fibers. Avoid facial scrubs that have micro beads, although those have been banned pretty much every in the US in the last decade.

At the end of the day, I worry about microplastics about as much as I worry about irradiated iodine from nuclear bomb tests.