I agree that powdered is better and cheaper.

The microplastics issue is more contentious, and while many say it’s bad that it enters the water supply, I suspect the smallest of the particles do not wash away so well

It's not the microplastic people are concerned about but it's a plastic that sticks around in the environment and bioaccumulates.

There are properties we're good at designing plastics around like hardness, stiffness, and environmental resistance. But there are properties we're very bad at designing plastics for decomposition, especially alongside niche other traits like water solubility

What is the material coating the pods?

The Bezos make the Walton's look like good people. That's not saying much for the Walton's. It's saying a lot less for the Bezos. Like grading on a curve and the class was already dogshit but then somebody else came a long and somehow scored negative points on a test.

I'm confused about what possible reason you could have to say "yeah yeah I know" about Amazon that doesn't apply at least as much to Walmart.

Internet behaviour. Ime people hate Amazon more by default, but they're both terrible

The one by me (rural) and by my parents (city) both carry Great Value powder, though my local one only carries the smaller box with a pour spout and not the scoop box you can get in the city