Microplastics present a threat to the ecosystem of the Georgian Bay. The New York Times has an article where you can read about the threat that microplastics pose globally: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/reduce-laundry-microfiber-pollution/.
A key weapon in the approach to reduce microplastic pollution is the use of filters on washing machine drains. GBF in partnership with the Rochman Laboratory at the University of Toronto has recently published the research article Washing Machine Filters Reduce Microfiber Emissions: Evidence from a Community-scale Pilot in Parry Sound, Ontario (report highlights can be found here). This study highlights their findings on the effectiveness of installing filters on washing machines to reduce microfiber pollutants.
One of the important findings from the study is that with the installation of the filters in the Parry Sound Area they were able to divert 22.8 kg of lint, approximately 639 million to 9.7 billion microfibers, over the course of the 2.5 year study.
A bonus to the installation of one of these filters is that they protect your septic or greywater system from synthetic material which your system cannot process!
The requirement for filtration is that they filter down to 100 microns – they measure less than 5 millimeters (PDF) in length (or, smaller than the width of a #2 pencil). This is far smaller than a simple screen. The GBA has an initiative to reduce microplastics by requiring a microplastic filter be installed in washing machines in Ontario. You can read more about that here: https://georgianbay.ca/microplastics-in-georgian-bay/
UofT and GBA have tested these two washing machine filters for their efficacy in reducing microplastics. Whether you have a greywater or septic system, these filters reduce microplastics in our environment. Please note that there may be other retailers, and that these websites are hosted in the USA and therefore there may be shipping, import fees, and duties owed.
This filter is considerably cheaper, but performance was not verified as part of the UofT study: