On October 2, 2019, I was one of the lucky few to attend an in-person seminar that changed me for the better. This fateful seminar was jointly facilitated by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and the 5 Gyres Institute. Monitoring data from the San Francisco Bay estuary was presented... and the numbers reported made international front page news:
"7 Trillion Microplastic Particles Pollute the San Francisco Bay Each Year" (links here)
The message was terrifying.
I was introduced to scientists, policy makers, and change leaders that have built careers around the potential environmental risk associated with the breakdown of plastic.
The people were inspiring.
I was intrigued by the tools, products and innovations designed to help prevent plastic from mobilizing from our homes into the environment. During the seminar, one research team had focused on at-home solutions to microfiber pollution--the plastics that wash off you clothes when you run a load laundry. The study contrasted the number of fibers captured inside the drum of the washing machine by The Cora Ball with the number of fibers captured by a custom-built filtration system installed on the discharge pipe of a washing machine. Unsurprisingly, the end of pipe filtration unit was more effective than the ball.
Because I'm a nerd, and an engineer, and a water quality monitoring specialist, I wanted to experiment a little myself. The resulting done-in-a-day video was a great COVID-quarantine project for a rainy, trapped-inside Saturday. This 4-minute video show cases (poorly) a DIY, observational experiment using my own laundry and the facilities provided by my rental unit. Feel free to check it out on my YouTube channel here:
Controlling micro fibers in your laundry - Cora Ball v the Dryer Lint Trap - YouTube
VIDEO DESCRIPTION: Microfibers are showing up in the environment. One of the sources identified to date is wastewater... specifically your laundry. I bought the Cora Ball and threw it into a typical Saturday load of laundry. This is what happened.
I loved the product in concept--but I'm not a fan. After the video, I gave it a few more chances. I destroyed more of my clothing than I care to remember. I didn't share that tidbit with my mother before asking her to try it out. I wanted her honest and unbiased opinion. She destroyed some clothing too. I groveled and gifted her some lovely wine.
I may never be a technical expert on plastics--macro-, micro-, nano-, or any other scale yet to be defined--BUT I can be a plastics enthusiast. "Microplastic" is now part of my personal lexicon and part of my greater trash management/recycling personal practice. I can read. I can experiment. I can share what I learn.
