![]() Use one to three tablespoons per load, depending on size. DIY Laundry SoapĬombine 14 ounces of washing soda, 14 ounces of borax, or baking soda, with 4.5 ounces of natural castile soap flakes. We need the concept of refill shops to catch on in U.S.Ĭohen helped me come up with a few green detergent ideas, all of which are quite affordable. Third, if you have a refill shop near you, BYO containers and support it. These things are bad: optical brighteners, chlorine, formaldehyde, synthetic nonylphenol ethoxylates, phosphates, phthalates. Second, check the ingredient list and if you see a lot of long , chemical-ish words, be suspicious. So what’s an environmentalist to do? First, avoid buying detergent in plastic containers. Laundry Soaps That Are Truly Plastic-Free The group has currently collected close to 23,000 signatures on a petition to get the EPA to conduct extensive tests on PVA biodegradability and its potential impact on the environment and human health. They want a few thousand more. “We need the EPA to take swift and urgent action to study the full ecological and health impacts of PVA in order to best protect people and our planet from potential harm,” says Cohen. Plastic Pollution Coalition, as well as many other advocacy groups like like Plastic Oceans, Beyond Plastics, and 5 Gyres, contend that we simply don’t know enough about the effects of PVA-which is why the groups have come together to call on the EPA to conduct an independent study to figure it out. It’s making its way into our bodies and our environment.” “We do, however, know that PVA has been found in human breast milk and in fish, which indicates that it does not simply vanish in wastewater treatment plants. ![]() “There is a serious lack of unbiased research on the human and environmental health effects of PVA,” says Cohen because existing research was funded by companies with biased interests. wastewater treatment plants, say that is simply not the case. What happens next depends on who you ask.Īccording to the American Cleaning Institute, PVA polymers are “ fully biodegraded by microorganisms in water treatment facilities and the environment.” But Cohen, a slew of other leading advocates for clean oceans, and this 2021 study in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health which looks at PVA degradation U.S. The dissolved PVA slides right down the tubes and off it goes to the treatment plant with your dirt, suds, and wastewater. But does it really disappear? “When you stir a spoonful of sugar or salt into water, it dissolves, but is it gone?” Cohen asks. “Take a taste and you have your answer. That’s why it vanishes in our washing machines and dishwashers. PVA has excellent barrier properties, so it’s good at holding together liquids and other squishy stuff, like soap. You’ll find it on the ingredient list of virtually every laundry or dishwasher pod and every laundry sheet or strip. PVA is a water-soluble synthetic polymer (a fancy word for plastic that readily binds itself to water molecules). ![]() To learn more about PVA and come up with sustainable alternatives, I connected with Dianna Cohen, co-founder and CEO of Plastic Pollution Coalition, a nonprofit working towards a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts. It’s the same exact stuff that encases laundry (and dishwasher) pods, and though it’s designed to dissolve as soon as it hits water, it is indeed plastic. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that what holds those innocuous little strips together is a sneaky type of plastic called polyvinyl alcohol, or PVA. My latest preferred laundry kit, clockwise from top: lavender essential oil, soap nuts in a muslin sack, and wool dryer balls. ![]() I promptly ordered a year’s supply and told everyone who would listen about my new discovery. Instead of the typical plastic jug, the thin compressed sheets are packaged in a recyclable cardboard envelope and marketed as plastic-free. In my quest to find more sustainable, plastic-free household products, I was thrilled to come across laundry “eco-strips,” as an easy swap-out. Let me explain: more than a year ago, I learned that laundry pods-encased in dissolvable plastic-were bad for the environment. You might even say I was taken to the cleaners. In trying to wash my clothes the green way, I was greenwashed. Outside’s head of sustainability, Kristin Hostetter, explores small lifestyle tweaks that can make a big impact. Doing right by the planet can make you happier, healthier, and-yes-wealthier. ![]()
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