Polyvinyl Alcohol...

I am sure you are aware of micro-plastic pollution, but perhaps (like us) aren’t as familiar as to how those micro plastics get into our environment and thus, our bodies, after all.

• One big contributor of this pollution is synthetic clothing… anything made out of plastic (aka polyester, vinyl, rayon, etc) will begin to leach plastics during the washing process. For more check out our blog on “vegan leather” which is plastic-based most of the time. And in purchasing new clothing, always opt for 100% natural textiles instead of blends with synthetic fibers.

• Another source of micro-plastic pollution comes from the large supply of single use plastics (water bottles, laundry jugs, etc) that don’t make it into their intended recycling/ landfill destinations.

The main area we are going to cover today is Polyvinyl Alcohol (aka PVA or PVOH) which is a “water soluble plastic” marketed as “biodegradable” (a misnomer itself) which is used in laundry sheets, strips, pods and dishwasher pods, used to hold these concentrated cleaners together before use.

Even though it is marketed as “biodegradable,” according to The International Journey of Environmental Research & Public Health About 75% of PVA used does NOT degrade in wastewater treatment plants in the USA. 

Yes, the water in the wash cycles break down the sheet or pod but it doesn’t magically transform the plastic into something other than plastic. Yes, under certain conditions PVA has the potential to breakdown into byproducts of carbon dioxide and water but unfortunately most waste water treatment plants don’t have the conditions necessary for this breakdown to happen, such as certain temperatures, microbes and other environmental conditions.

Thus the plastic remains, but in microscopic bits that our water treatment plants aren’t equipped to deal with. In fact over 75% of PVA is not safely removed during treatment, making its way back into the “clean” water deemed safe for use or consumption yet containing micro-plastic pollution.

We are checking with the City of Fort Collins waste water treatment to see if they have the conditions necessary to accommodate proper breakdown of PVA.

In municipalities without the proper conditions necessary, the micro-plastic pollution goes relatively untouched & untreated by our waste-water treatment plants, and that process then returns the micro-plastics to us in our clear water for gardening and consumption.

Because of this you will not find these at our store, until we can source those without PVA.

The biodegradable labeling is green washing at its finest - when companies are telling consumers that a sheet or a pod is a better environmental choice because you ditch the single use plastic container and the transport of water due to the concentrate (both good things) but you end up with a much greater negative downstream effect. This is also what makes the system and the solutions so complicated. The irony is infuriating.

An unfun fact: The US uses a lot of PVA! About 17,000 metric tons (over 37 million pounds!) of polyvinyl alcohol is used annually. For more stats like this and a very easy to understand but more informative breakdown on how PVA isn’t actually breaking down check out this blog by Meliora Cleaning Products.