Keep this in mind ... people from all walks of life read online forums. It's not always the "facts" that matter but the "perception" that often prevail.
Chances are oils/solvents/chemicals washed from the surfaces of roads into the storm drain and household/garden chemicals around the house washed into the ground far exceed in toxicity what wet tumblers put down the drain. But the public sentiment, especially if fueled by media frenzy, may not care about the public roads or their household/garden chemicals going into the ground. I mean, how many millions of gallons of Round Up (Glyphosate), other herbicides and pesticides have we used over the past decades? Quite a bit and more and more water tables are showing rising concentration of Glyphosate among other chemicals.
As "High Road" reloaders, we can demonstrate we are responsible stewards of the environment while in pursuit of our hobby/passion. To increase health and safety of our sport, there is growth in use of fully encapsulated lead bullets with copper plating and Hi-Tek/powder coating to reduced lead exposure to shooters and reduce lead particle build up in our equipment.
Instead of saying "We just pour it down the drain", if we say "We take steps to prevent/reduce potentially harmful substances from entering the environment", we are likely to get greater support from the general public. And isn't that why we are all here on the "High Road" forum - to be reloaders and handloaders of higher standards and virtue?
I have enjoyed my hobby/passion of shooting and reloading over the decades and want my children/grandchildren to enjoy the same sport which has created many happy family memories and good times with friends/neighbors/coworkers. I consider reloading & handloading a great American pastime that is essentially fully recyclable - bullets, brass and even spent primers are recycled as bulk metal and if we keep the consumables as clean as possible (Like non-toxic primers and IMR's new "greener" Target, Red, Green, Unequal and Blue powders), heck even tree huggers may want to enjoy our sport. Believe me, over the past decades, I have converted many tree-hugging Democrats to gun-totting, CCW permit carrying Second Amendment supporters who actually voted for Trump/Pence in support of viable future of Second Amendment as "Rights Issue" of this Republic.
This is my 7th year on THR and over the years, with help from other THR members, we have busted many reloading myths and reached factual/objective conclusions and perhaps it's time, in light of justice Neil Gorsuch being confirmed to the Supreme Court, for THR to be a brighter beacon in the online gun forum reloading & handloading community.