Could you point me towards what you were reading about poor breakdown? Confused by your statement vs a paper cited on wikipedia suggesting highly water soluble PVA like those in detergents break down fairly well (Byrne et al 2021, open source uses EU microplastic non soluble def)
Are you referring to the PVA known as "wood glue"? Wikipedia says that's polyvinyl acetate, a different substance with the same initials that's commonly confused: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_alcohol
I get it because polyvinyl alcohol doesn't sound like plastic and most sheet manufacturers brag about how they're saving you from plastic jugs but they are plastic that just dissolves in water. That doesn't mean they degrade though. At best the jury is still out on that.
Came here to say this. PLA? *poly* lactic acid. PET? *poly* ethylene terephthalate. PVC? *poly* vinyl chloride. If it has a P in the acronym then it's plastic.
Note that not every chemical species starting with "P" is a polymer (e.g., PFAS is the acronym used for perfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as "forever chemicals" & a class of pollutants), and not every polymer is a plastic (e.g., proteins are naturally-occurring polyamides).
I went *deep* on this and over the three years with newer studies I'm skeptical they degrade outside of the ideal scenarios which is unlikely to be your waste water treatment facility.
Ugh, good to know and thanks for sharing. We rip ours in thirds but still not happy to hear.
Relatedly, because it sounds like you'd know, I've heard the plastic used in detergent bottles is one of the few that is actually recyclable? (knowing that plastic recycling is a scam by the manufacturers)
I had no idea the sheets were also plastic and had been wondering if maybe they would be a more environmental switch! So you did reach at least one person!
Also they wind up getting left behind in dryers or thrown on the floor of the laundry room. Ppl are good about cleaning out the lint trap, but not about removing dryer sheets. (I don't use them.)
Once you stop, then you smell them and realize how nasty they are. Haven’t used them for probably twenty years. Every time I walk past a dryer vent I’m like EWWW. So much of capitalism is selling us stuff we don’t need.
I equally blame the ppl buying them. What good are they doing that outweighs them getting left behind in dryers if you're using a laundry room or laundromat?
“Literature review data, when incorporated into our model, resulted in ~61% of PVA ending up in the environment via the sludge route and ~15.7% via the aqueous phase. PVA presence in the environment, regardless of its matrix, is a threat to the ecosystem due to the potential mobilization of heavy …”
My husband was literally asking me tonight if we should buy these. I didn’t know they were a thing, but I guess it’s sold by the latest bcorp Hank Green is supporting. Glad I was scrolling!
I initially switched to them, but switched to powder and concentrate liquid that gets mixed in a reusable jug when I found out about PVA. And I comment on social media ads that claim “zero plastic”.
I picked up some wool dryer balls year before last & never looked back. You can even add drops of essential oil to them if you want scented laundry. I like rose oil.
Wait... are you talking about those environmentally friendly laundry sheets that dissolve in the washing machine? If so... ugh... I have a whole box of them! I bought them to avoid the plastic jugs! Which is worse??
I’m sticking with the (unscented) sheets for now — no plastic jugs and less carbon footprint for shipping. I get that the sheets are made from polyvinyl alcohol but to me the packaging no-jug and shipping weight / carbon footprint outweigh the PVA. Maybe I’ll change my mind
I have long given those the hairy eyeball (mostly bc I trust no bitch, not bc I’m so clever), as its compositional qualities obvs had to come from somewhere and my mind kept whispering “yeah somewhere like plastics everyone pretends goes away.” I’ll be looking for more to read on this for sure.
Totally a good point that I had not thought about! I guess to be fair, liquid detergents like Tide also contain polyvinyl alcohol, so you’re likely still contributing slightly less plastic pollution than before.
my peeve is they bake onto the laundromat tumblers so although I don't used them, towels cease to be absorbent because they pickup the residue embedded from other customer's drying
Maybe powder in the cardboard box is best. (Although carbon footprint with shipping? Sigh ) I’ve been using sheets for years and am disappointed to hear this. TFS
Was so disappointed yesterday when I saw @hankgreen.bsky.social started selling them. I would assume that if I knew they were (at least very likely) bad then he would too. Hopefully an honest mistake.
And they smell like trash, and the fragrance in them is largely unregulated. Please don’t make me smell your stupid Mountain Breeze when I’m in public spaces.
My parents use a powder in a cardboard container which seems like the most environmentally friendly option, but their unscented hippie soap doesn’t work in our wash for some reason. Different water? Different machine? Idk because it works great on my clothes but only at their house.
iirc from the long-ago days of my childhood, the powder soap has stricter requirements as far as temperature and maybe needing to be added at a specific point in the cycle. I remember getting told off for not following a strict set of steps that are not relevant for the liquid stuff.
Ah, that makes sense. This post is about the “dissolving” detergent sheets people have been scammed into thinking are better than the detergent pods ☺️
I do the hippie all natural detergent bc got tired of being carved up for breast cancer. Plus my daughter is allergic to a lot of detergents. You buy a glass container & refill it with pouches. It looks like it costs more but you use so much less.
Why is the reading comprehension so bad in this comment section? Kendra is clearly talking about dissolving detergent sheets, not dryer sheets, which are their own different kind of terrible. Please, people, read for comprehension instead of skimming for keywords to justify your response 🥲😬
It’s more bad timing than bad move I guess. Because they did it right when people are looking for alternatives to pods and heavy liquids that are expensive and carbon intensive to ship.
Oh, got it. I think the best alternative would be a liquid refill station like purified water… or bottle return for laundry containers at $20 a bottle. People would act!
Comments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_alcohol
Relatedly, because it sounds like you'd know, I've heard the plastic used in detergent bottles is one of the few that is actually recyclable? (knowing that plastic recycling is a scam by the manufacturers)
(But YES, the wool balls are fab! #TeamLavender)
https://www.blueland.com/
Or look for your local soap refill shop and see what options they have!
They're worse for the environment surprisingly often
https://meliorameansbetter.com/products/laundry-powder-detergent?utm_source=microsoft&utm_medium=paid-search&utm_campaign=branded&utm_content=lp&msclkid=2708875fab081553b2e7e08d57d037b0&utm_term=meliora+laundry+powder&variant=22964725382