After posting for the past few weeks about the problem of plastic pollution, both micro and otherwise, it's time to talk about solutions. And, thinking about where exactly to start when talking about these solutions, I defined one key goal: to minimize the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans, and in our environment. What I also realized, however, was that the methods of achieving this were not only a bit abstract, requiring constant effort rather than a one time change, but also multifaceted. There are many ways to limit our usage of plastic pollution, each requiring different considerations for different products. So, overwhelmed with information on the subject, and struggling to find a format for a singular post, I wanted to make this into a series.
The Proper Plastics Series
There are thousands of types of plastics. We use them in bottles, straws, bags, toothpaste, floss cases, personal care products, and much, much more. What's worse: each of these plastics have their own methods of disposal, different ways to be reused, and require unique methods to avoid. As a result, being a consumer in this scenario can be extraordinarily difficult, because even if we have the right intention, the sheer amount of different plastics can make it hard to choose properly. So what do we do? Well, the only option is to learn, and then to teach.
That's what I hope to do with this series. Make it as simple as possible to understand how we can limit the impact that plastic has on our environment, using the steps necessary to implement that understanding. To do this, I'll be utilizing the classic phrase we so commonly associate with a conservation mindset: reduce, reuse, recycle. Unfortunately, the problem has gotten so large that we can no longer afford to only reduce. We must refuse, then reuse, then recycle. So, I'm going to be talking about all (hopefully!) of the ways that we can first refuse plastics (and replace them with alternatives), then reuse them as many times as we can, and then recycle them properly. Let's get started.
Microplastics
We'll start this series by continuing the trend of the past few weeks and discussing how we can refuse, reuse, and recycle microplastics. Now, right off the bat two of our three options are struck out. We can't really reuse microplastics, as most often they're put in one-time-use products. After all, it's really hard to use something again that you can barely see. Additionally, there's no system in place to recycle these plastics like there is for something like bottles (for obvious reasons), and we don't put them in the trash either. So, we're left with only one line of defense: outright denying them. I've said before that the power to solve environmental problems lays in the hands of the consumers, and this couldn't be more true in the case of microplastics. So, where can these little plastics be found?
Products Containing Microplastics
I talked about this a bit in my post about why microplastics were so bad in the first place (which if you haven't seen, you can check out here) but there's certainly more to say. First, as a recap, a lot has already been done when it comes to limiting microplastics in products. In 2015, the U.S. banned the use of microbeads in all consumer products, and other countries such as Canada soon followed suit. However, microbeads are only one type of microplastic, and others continue to be used in various products. If you're reading this outside of the U.S, then that country may or may not have banned the use. So, whether they've been banned or not, it's important to know what we're looking for.
The most common products that utilize these microplastics are sunscreen, toothpaste, and personal care products (like soap, body/face washes, makeup and skincare products). I could try and list specific brands that do and don't have these plastics, but the truth is that it's already been done, and in a much better format that I could ever achieve. If you're looking for a specific product to see whether it does or doesn't have them, then click here for a comprehensive, country-based list. Keep in mind, however, that this list only covers microbeads, not microplastics in general. In order to lower our use of the product in general, we need to employ another method.
Ingredient Checking
Just like palm oil, the best way to limit our usage of microplastics is to look at the ingredients list. Unfortunately, unlike palm oil, there isn't an easy app like Palmsmart that we can use to do it for us. So, we have to do it ourselves. Most commonly (according to beatthemicrobead.org) microplastic ingredients fall under these names: Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and Nylon (PA). They've got some fairly complex names, but in an ingredients list they are easy to spot. If you're planning on buying a product like toothpaste with one or more of these ingredients, it would be a good idea to try and find an alternative.
I'm not going to lie: this process takes both time and effort. It's not fun to have to look at every single product we buy to see if they have specific ingredients. But, if anything, we have major justification to do so. If you're not sold on the idea, then I suggest reading more about microplastics through my articles (here and here) as well as articles that others have written. The size and scope of the problem warrants a little bit of effort on our end. And, luckily, as we begin to get a feel for what products have microplastics and for which ones don't, the process gets easier and easier.
Conclusion
While it requires a bit of effort on our end, avoiding microplastics really isn't that difficult. And, as we'll see in the following weeks, refusing, reusing, and recycling other types of plastic isn't either. Limiting plastic pollution seems like a daunting process, especially when looking at the size and scale of the problem we've created, but taking the time to learn about and implement the multitude of different solutions out there really helps to make a difference. A problem that has been in the making for decades, has killed and poisoned thousands of animal, and one that continues to harm us, can be solved by just a little bit of effort.
All credit for information used in this post goes to:
http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/product-lists/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/19/microplastics-which-beauty-brands-are-safe-to-use
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html
https://www.indy100.com/article/microbeads-harmful-where-are-they-banned-countries-7549811
Images:
https://www.mantaraysampler.com/blog/2017/2/1/microplastics-in-panama
https://cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/drugs-and-plastics-threatening-ocean-and-human-health
http://designtekplastics.com/tips/why-plastic-injection-molding-is-valuable/
https://byjus.com/chemistry/plastics/
https://www.circa.com/story/2018/03/29/science/93-percent-of-bottled-water-contains-microplastics-study-finds
http://www.clipartpanda.com/categories/sunscreen-20clipart
https://www.medicaldaily.com/crest-agrees-remove-polyethylene-its-toothpaste-why-was-there-plastic-there-first-place-303518
https://creeklife.com/
http://cleanbodiesofwater.org/microbeads-impact-on-marine-environment/
https://quotesgram.com/quotes-about-putting-in-effort/
Comments