Preventing Micro-Waste

July 14, 2020

Sustainability Tip

Preventing Micro-waste from Entering our Water Supply

Did you know you are eating micro plastics? But how did they get into our bodies you may ask. There are actually so many ways but I feel like food is the simplest way to explain it. A micro plastic is any small piece of plastic less than 5mm. There is no place on Earth these small pieces of plastic haven't reached. Something becomes a micro plastic by being broken down over time by environmental factors. Contributors to this problem can be big things like astroturf, or small things dust from our home. Today we will touch of synthetic fibers as a contributor. Majority of the items in your closet are made up of synthetic fibers like polyester. Even if it's a cotton item, many times it's a blend. Every time you wash those fibers small particles break off and get rinsed away. But that rinse goes directly to the ocean. Once those colorful pieces of plastic are in the ocean they are gobbled up by crustaceans, fish and basically everything else in the oceanic food chain. Of course if you cut open a fish with a belly full of plastic you wouldn't eat it, but some of these pieces are so microscopic it's smaller than a grain of salt. All of us have these micro-plastics running through us at this point. However, I will stop depressing you there and give you a way to lessen your impact on this problem.

The guppy bag is a solution that works well in our house. You simply throw any synthetic clothing in there and wash as usual. You may look in the bag and not think it caught anything, but check the seams. Remember these are less than 5mm. You'll see small particles caught in the seams that you rescued from polluting the ocean! GO YOU!

GUPPY BAG

STOP MICRO WASTE

FROM FISH TO HUMANS