Eco-conscious boaters do all we can to keep plastic bottles, straws, and bags from ending up in our waterways. But have you given much thought to disposing of used contact lenses and where the fibers that wash out of clothing end up?
Along with the risks we see and recycle, such as water bottles, there are miniscule plastic pollutants escaping the filters in our wastewater treatment systems. Known as microplastics, these pellets cause harm by joining together to form floating trash heaps that in turn trap even more objects and toxins such as pesticides. They also endanger critters that think whatever floats by is food — and the creatures that eat those critters.
According to earth911.com, a study from the University of Arizona looked at the effects of flushing used contact lenses down
the drain or toilet. They found about 15 to 20 percent of wearers dispose of their lenses this way, resulting in about 1.8 billion to 3.36 billion lenses swirling into wastewater plants. Since they are too small to be effectively filtered out, the contact lenses accumulate with other microplastics into sewage sludge.
What can be done by the estimated 45 million contact lens wearers in the U.S. to keep their discarded eyewear from ending up as sludge? The easy solution is to toss them into garbage cans instead of flushing. The better long-term solution is to recycle them (and those blister packs, too) through a participating optical shop or directly to the Bausch and Lomb recycling program https://www.bausch.com/our-company/the-one-by-one-recycling-program-faqs. They take all types of lenses, not just their own brands.
Clothing created from synthetic materials such as polyester, acrylic, and nylon contain microfibers (microplastics). While too small to see in the overall garment, the agitation of the washer shakes these microfibers loose — thousands of them may be rinsed out of each load of synthetic clothing. When you consider the daily boatload of washing machines churning and draining, a staggering amount of microfibers are voyaging to the oceans.
Stopping the microplastic migration into waterways and marine ecosystems requires swapping synthetic clothing for natural fiber fabrics such as cotton, wool, and silk. There is a downside to this exchange, however — synthetic fabrics often require a smaller water and energy footprint than natural fabric production, so buying vintage natural fiber clothing addresses both concerns. Other proposed solutions include designing synthetic textiles that don’t shed their fibers as readily and creating better filtering systems for washing machines and municipal wastewater treatment plants.
By recognizing that our eyewear, wardrobes, and washing machines contribute to pollution problems, we can make better choices and support companies working on solutions.
