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e-2389 (Environment)
E-petition
Initiated by Sarah Whiteside from Courtenay, British Columbia
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled
Whereas:
- Our environment is being heavily polluted with plastic, and this not only has major impacts on aquatic life, but also on human health, and it is estimated that 74,000 to 121,000 microplastic particles are ingested per person every year;
- A recent study carried out by Ocean Wise Conservation Association has shown that during each washing cycle 120,000 to 730,000 microfibers are shed from the clothes and go directly into waste water, and many of these microfibers are synthetic and therefore microplastics;
- Annual estimates of synthetic microfiber pollution generated by home laundry and discharged into our environment are staggering, namely one quadrillion or 250 tonnes of untreated microfiber pollution directly released into the environment or septic systems, five quadrillion or 1,300 tonnes of microfibers retained by waste water treatment facilities, and 0.26 quadrillion or 67 tonnes of household microfiber pollution released into the aquatic environment after waste water treatment; and
- Washing machine discharge filters are currently available on the market and greatly reduce the amount of microfibers being released into waste water and thus the environment.
We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to:
1. Legislate the requirement of all new washing machines to have discharge filters as of 2021; and
2. Provide incentives to all residents of Canada to install discharge filters on current washing machines.
