Posted by Konrad.
We have narrowed down our topic from ocean plastics to microbeads and micro plastics. Microbeads and Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic that can easily pass through filters and drains. Microplastics can come from bigger pieces of plastic that breaks into smaller parts. Microbeads come from products such as toothpaste. Companies that make toothpaste sometimes put Microbeads in the toothpaste, and then the microbeads go right through the drain and into the ocean. Microbeads are so small (they are about 5 millimeters in length) that they pass right through the drains and filters.
We reached out to a few different organizations, Adventure Scientists, The NOAA Marine Debris Program, and OEd Outreach. We reached out to them because when we looked at their websites we found that many were were fairly small, non-profit organizations. We learned that there is no one solution for Microplastics and Microbeads. But there are a few things that normal people can do to help fix the problem. One thing is to participate in local cleanups in your area. People can also raise awareness about the problem dispose of waste properly, and reduce the amount of waste they produce. People also should reuse items when they can choose reusable items over disposable ones,and always recycle when possible. A huge one is buying fewer plastic items. This helps because if less plastic is bought, then less is thrown in the ocean, so their is less plastic in the ocean as there would normally be.
You should care because so much marine life is dying because of plastic that is in their habitat. A staggering 700,000 Microbeads and Microplastics come off of polyester clothing in one wash in a washing machine. And a very large amount goes straight to the ocean. Not only can these plastics get past filters, but they are also too small for fish and other marine life to detect. So the plastics enter a fish’s body, and it sometimes kills them, but when they don’t die from the plastic but they get caught in a fisherman’s net, they get shipped to fish stores, bought, and eaten, and plastic is not a good thing for people to eat, and people can get cancer and other diseases from eating microplastics and microbeads.
We have narrowed down our topic from ocean plastics to microbeads and micro plastics. Microbeads and Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic that can easily pass through filters and drains. Microplastics can come from bigger pieces of plastic that breaks into smaller parts. Microbeads come from products such as toothpaste. Companies that make toothpaste sometimes put Microbeads in the toothpaste, and then the microbeads go right through the drain and into the ocean. Microbeads are so small (they are about 5 millimeters in length) that they pass right through the drains and filters.
We reached out to a few different organizations, Adventure Scientists, The NOAA Marine Debris Program, and OEd Outreach. We reached out to them because when we looked at their websites we found that many were were fairly small, non-profit organizations. We learned that there is no one solution for Microplastics and Microbeads. But there are a few things that normal people can do to help fix the problem. One thing is to participate in local cleanups in your area. People can also raise awareness about the problem dispose of waste properly, and reduce the amount of waste they produce. People also should reuse items when they can choose reusable items over disposable ones,and always recycle when possible. A huge one is buying fewer plastic items. This helps because if less plastic is bought, then less is thrown in the ocean, so their is less plastic in the ocean as there would normally be.
You should care because so much marine life is dying because of plastic that is in their habitat. A staggering 700,000 Microbeads and Microplastics come off of polyester clothing in one wash in a washing machine. And a very large amount goes straight to the ocean. Not only can these plastics get past filters, but they are also too small for fish and other marine life to detect. So the plastics enter a fish’s body, and it sometimes kills them, but when they don’t die from the plastic but they get caught in a fisherman’s net, they get shipped to fish stores, bought, and eaten, and plastic is not a good thing for people to eat, and people can get cancer and other diseases from eating microplastics and microbeads.