Duragrouch

My points were not about zero pollution, but about minimizing pollution.

- A small amount of certain pollutants can make vast quantities of water undrinkable. Some pollutants are toxic at levels of Parts Per Million (PPM) or less, and those pollutants readily disperse completely in a liquid. On the other hand, the same toxin in solid form disperses much less readily, many orders of magnitude less, so are less polluting, if disposed of where rainwater cannot wash them to the sea. If I had toxins on my hands, I would wipe as much off them before washing, and if a serious or volatile toxin as above, not send wash water down the drain. But these days I tend to wear disposable gloves and include them in the hazmat waste.

Of late, it has been determined that salmon are dying near road bridges because of tire dust that blows and washes into the river below. I have known for many years that tire dust is a significant pollutant, and little is being done about it in terms of alternative materials.

When I was too young to understand the impact, I saw people draining their engine oil into a hole in the soil, or pouring it down the sewer drain, and now I know how incredibly bad that is, just to save some effort. Thankfully, used oil disposal is easy now. However the price of new oil has skyrocketed in the last decade, even when oil prices are low. I asked about it. A fellow told me that it was due to oil disposal. I asked if costs for that had increased? He said no, but one company bought up all the others and had a monopoly, and then jacked up prices. I have not yet confirmed that story.

These days, every car and truck tire purchase includes a tire disposal fee, at least in my state. And thankfully, that fee is reasonable and not gone up.