Laundry pods are easy, convenient and a no-mess solution to get clean clothes. But are laundry pods bad for the environment?
Doing the laundry can be a big task, especially if you have a big family. So not having to mess about measuring the laundry detergent and trying to get it into the detergent drawer is an advantage.
Laundry pods are easy to use and can make your laundry routine just this tad quicker. So it’s no wonder that they have become very popular.
But are laundry pods bad for the environment? This is a question we want to answer in this article.
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What’s In Laundry Pods?
To establish the truth about “are laundry pods bad for the environment?”, we have to look at various aspects: ingredients, plastic film and packaging.
Let’s start with the ingredients, what is in the laundry pods so many of us use on a regular basis.
Most laundry pods and laundry detergents in general contain a mix of different chemicals. Many of which aren’t good for the environment:
- Surfactants – these chemicals are the main ingredients that clean your clothes and many of the most commonly used ones can harm aquatic life.
- Optical brighteners – these chemicals you find in laundry pods that claim to make your whites whiter. They are known to be harmful for aquatic plants and animals.
- Perfumes and fragrances – because we have made to believe that only nice smelling laundry is clean, perfumes and fragrances are a staple in laundry pods. But many fragrance chemicals used are toxic for our environment.
- Dyes – to make the pods colourful to match the scents, many conventional brands use dyes. These are often made from coal tar, which is fossil fuel derived. These dyes are known to be harmful to ecosystems they are present in.
- Chlorine bleach – it’s widely known that bleach is a dangerous substance. Even in small quantities this chemical is toxic for aquatic life.
- Plastic – it’s used in the form of microplastics or liquid polymer. Not being biodegradable, these substances stay in our environment for a long time causing great harm.
The ingredients found in laundry pods are pretty much the same as in liquid or powder detergents. Read our guide about how toxic laundry detergent is to find out more.
Most of these chemicals aren’t biodegradable, which means they persist in our environment for a long time and cause harm.
But it’s not just the chemicals themselves that are bad for our environment. The majority are made from petroleum, which is a fossil fuel.
Using fossil fuels is not sustainable, so we should avoid any products using petrochemicals.
Because water treatment plants aren’t perfect, small quantities of these chemicals enter our waterways every day. The accumulative effect makes the impact even worse.
Many of the chemicals used aren’t needed to clean the laundry, such as fragrances and dyes. Besides, there are eco-friendly alternatives for the ingredients that won’t harm the planet.
These nasty chemicals aren’t needed to have clean clothes.
If you want to wash your laundry without causing harm to our environment, look for laundry detergents that don’t contain these.
The good news is that there are small UK-based companies that offer effective laundry pods without the nasty chemicals, such as Homethings.
Top-Rated Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergents
| Cleaning Products | Value For Money | Effectiveness | Sustainability | My Rating | Full Review | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Excellent | Excellent | Outstanding | 4.90/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
 | Outstanding | Excellent | Excellent | 4.90/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
 | Great | Outstanding | Excellent | 4.85/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
Plastic Film Around Laundry Pods
When we ask, “are laundry pods bad for the environment?”, we have to discuss the film that encases laundry pods.
The plastic film is made from Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) and it’s a very controversial topic.
It’s a polymer with special properties that makes it water-soluble. This means it dissolves in water, even at low temperatures.
It turns from a polymer to a monomer, which can biodegrade. Technically, this makes PVA biodegradable.
That’s why PVA is often classed as a sustainable, zero-waste product. However, there are conflicting research studies that cloud the water.
The good news is that PVA is non-toxic, so doesn’t release any nasty or harmful chemicals when it breaks down. This seems to be confirmed by most studies.
But some studies say that it is biodegradable, others say it isn’t. Researchers accusing each other of using flawed methods or set-ups, which means we are none the wiser as to the biodegradability of PVA.
That’s because some of these studies are funded by the companies who use PVA in their products. These studies create the right conditions for the polymer to biodegrade.
But because these ideal conditions might not exist everywhere where PVA is used, the studies are flawed.
The studies that say PVA isn’t biodegradable, don’t create these ideal conditions, hence why they get a different result.
So what both sides agree on is that PVA once dissolved can biodegrade in the right conditions. This means the right microorganisms need to be present.
The right microorganisms are used in water treatment plants, which means when PVA is used for laundry pods or dishwasher pods, it has the right conditions to biodegrade.
However, it does take some time for the dissolved PVA to break down, which is longer than the time the water is processed in the treatment plant.
This means it might not fully break down before it enters our waterways. There aren’t any definitive studies that looked at what harm the dissolved PVA does once in the waterways though.
There are indications that it might disturb aquatic life, but for now that jury is still out.
One thing I don’t like about PVA is that it’s made from petroleum, like most plastics.
So where does that leave us, especially in terms of our question: are laundry pods bad for the environment?
The use of PVA is not ideal. However, pods are generally seen as more environmentally friendly than liquid detergents. That’s because the detergent is more concentrated and uses less water.
They are also lighter, which means they use up less energy when being transported.
What’s in encased within the PVA film is also much more important, because we know how detrimental the nasty chemicals used in conventional detergents are.
While PVA is not the ultimate solution, it’s a step in the right direction for sustainability. Going green isn’t a sprint unfortunately, but a marathon.
Little by little, we change the way we do things and the materials we use and find alternatives that work for us and the environment.
And as long as brands who use PVA continue to look for complete plastic-free solutions, we will get to a place where we don’t need to worry anymore if laundry pods are bad for the environment.
Packaging
The final aspect to look at when we ask “are laundry pods bad for the environment?” is the packaging.
Most laundry pods come in a plastic container, which is usually not recyclable. It’s also highly likely that the plastic used has been made from petroleum, so is fossil fuel-derived.
Using petroleum-derived plastic that isn’t recyclable contributes huge amounts to plastic waste. And plastic can take hundreds of years to break down.
As it breaks down it can release harmful chemicals that harm our planet. It will also break down into tiny pieces of plastic, called microplastics, before it full breaks down.
These enter the soil, plants, animals and humans. While it is not yet fully understood what harm these microplastics can cause, scientists are very worried about the volume of microplastics around and how widespread it is.
However, things are starting to change on this front. Many big brands have started to swap the plastic containers with cardboard boxes.
These can be recycled or composted, which means there is no waste. This is great news.
But there is one thing to keep in mind. These big brands still sell their other products in plastic containers. While some of them might be recyclable, they are still made mostly from fossil fuels.
And these big brands still use harmful chemicals in their products, even if they package them in cardboard boxes.
However, there are small UK-based companies who don’t use any plastic packaging in their entire product range. These are a better choice for the environment than the big brands.
Conclusion – Are Laundry Pods Bad For The Environment?
Let’s summarise what we have learned and answer the question: are laundry pods bad for the environment?
Apart from being very convenient and easy to use, laundry pods use less water than liquid detergent, which makes them a better option for the planet.
They are also lighter than powder, which reduces the energy needed to transport them, which means they have a lower carbon footprint.
The film used to encase the detergent is made from PVA, which currently is highly debated over by the scientific community.
While it is not the ideal material to use, it’s a step in the right direction for the environment until a better solution is found.
The main issue with many laundry pods from the big brands is that they use toxic chemicals that cause harm in our environment.
The good news is that there are companies who focus on making products that won’t harm our planet. These use non-toxic chemicals and have plastic-free packaging.
So you don’t have to give up the convenience of laundry pods, just choose an eco-friendly product, such as from Homethings.
Top-Rated Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergents
| Cleaning Products | Value For Money | Effectiveness | Sustainability | My Rating | Full Review | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | Excellent | Outstanding | 4.90/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
| Outstanding | Excellent | Excellent | 4.90/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
| Great | Outstanding | Excellent | 4.85/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
