Re:Forever 21, Which Helped Popularize Fast Fashion, to File...
by furyg3 on Monday September 30, 2019 @04:49AM
(#21112986)
Somehow in most of the apartments I've lived the toilet was always really close to the dryer. So for many many years I would just throw everything from the lint trap into the toilet to be flushed next time I use the restroom. Without thinking about it, it seemed like 'organic' material. Probably most of it was (I tend to use the dryer mostly for towels and bedding, which is mostly cotton).
One morning it occurred to me that I've been flushing microplastics away, which is really terrible...
Catching particles coming from the wash seems like a pretty tough problem. Even if the washing machine could somehow catch these, I can't see consumers (and thus manufacturers) jumping at the chance to clean out dirty soapy goop from a washing machine filter... which I imagine will resemble cleaning out a shower drain trap pretty quickly.
Re:Forever 21, Which Helped Popularize Fast Fashion, to File...
by journalctl on Monday September 30, 2019 @11:36AM
(#21116468)
It’s also really bad for the pipes. There’s a reason why toilet paper falls apart pretty quickly when it gets wet. Generally only waste, water, and toilet paper should go down that drain, unless you want to make some plumber very happy.
Re:Forever 21, Which Helped Popularize Fast Fashion, to File...
by ehnto on Monday September 30, 2019 @07:19AM
(#21113918)
Even if they did clean it out, they would probably put it in the trash anyway. Some cities could process it in their recycling process, but that's not every city. I don't think there is a way for us to have plastic fabrics without the microplastics ending up in the environment.
I imagine most people don't think about their plastic fabrics being plastic at all, they really don't feel like plastic. So when you see lint balls or bits of lint floating about the house you don't think to yourself "Ah, little bits of plastic going into my lungs". When you empty the lint catcher in a drier and pop it right in the bin, it probably doesn't cross most minds that it's a little bundle of plastic fibers. I like to consider myself pretty well informed on the topic and it wasn't until this year that clothing fibers even crossed my mind.