Sources of Pollution
Table of Contents
Introduction
Pollution is caused by many items, industries and activities. We create pollution when we mine and farm, transport and process things. This is why it would be wise to produce and consume less resources. At the end of an object's life that item can produce waste, as can production and shipping of that item's replacement. For this reason we often hear or read the 3Rs:
Reduce > Reuse > Recycle
Refuse and reduce being of higher impact than reusing, which is in turn less of a source of pollution than the recycling process.
Maintenance & Repair
Maintaining what we already have, and repairing these things over time generally uses less resources than our other options. Unfortunately practices such as companies pushing for planned obsolescence is creating a threat to the time-honored practice of repair. For this reason it can greatly help communities, individuals, and our planet as a whole to check in on your local "Right to Repair" laws, so that we don't lose legal access to one of the most basic and cost effective ways to reduce our ecological footprint.
Even if you don't personally go out of your way to repair things, ensuing the right to repair can provide life-impacting protections for repair workers and small, repair companies, people with disabilities (for example wheel-chair users), and farmers who want to affordably repair or improve their farming equipment.
Packaging
Plastic
To avoid plastic packaging, some vendors are turning to traditional materials.
These are more easily composted than the "compostable" bioplastics which sadly, can't be composted at home, and rarely end up in municipal composters as intended.
Fossil Fuel Extraction
Transit
Chemical Run Off
Car Wash Runoff
Washing with a car wash company can reduce your impact as they are supposed to be fitted with systems that remove soap and other materials from the waste water. Washing a vehicle at home, generally results in the polluted run off getting into flower beds, lawns, or into local drains where the chemicals can harm the environment.
Coolant Leaks
These kill animals who are often attracted by the sweet flavor of this toxic substance.
Oil Leaks
Wind Shield Liquid
Tire Shedding
Plastic shed from tires is a major cause of microplastic pollution in our waterways and oceans.
PFAS
PFAS and related chemicals problematically common in our clothing, food packaging, cook ware, "environmentally-friendly straws", even our period supplies!
Click the PFAS button to learn about the problems this chemical causes, where it is found, and how to avoid it.
Click the PFAS Cleanup button to learn current options we can use help remove PFAS from soil water, and human blood.
Laundry & Fashion
Production
Emissions
Water Pollution
Shedding of Plastic
Manure
Manufacturing
Mining
Sewage
Slaughterhouses
Slaughterhouses have a grim history of dumping carcass parts in water ways, especially where legal protections aren't strong enough to enforce environmental protection.
Click here to see a map of rivers in the USA impacted by illegal dumping of slaughterhouse pollution.
