Summer has passed, sad but true. One exciting thing that comes from this, however, is the return of the ship Niagara from the Great Lakes. If you remember from my last post, a Dr. Lorena Rios from the University of Wisconsin - Superior set out on the first expedition to test the plastic pollution levels of the Great Lakes. They were out for a couple weeks and returned with both good and bad news. Most of the lakes were relatively clean, except Erie. This lake proved to contain a "troubling amount of small pieces [of plastic]," according to the UW website. The samples and research that was gathered, will now be studied and analyzed by Dr. Rios' very lucky students this fall. They are looking to determine whether these plastic pieces have absorbed (and if so, how much) other chemical pollutants in the waters such as pesticides and PCB's. Below is a video that was made by
5 Gyres about the expedition:
One major type of plastic that they found was micro-beads. Sound familiar? You probably use them every day and don't even consider them a plastic. You know that expensive, fountain-of-youth-promising face wash you use every morning before work? Well, in most cases, those exfoliating beads are made of plastic. And they are so tiny that when they wash down your drain and into our watershed, no water treatment system can catch and filter them. Eventually they end up in our streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and of course the oceans.
When choosing a face wash, opt for one that's natural (no plastic wonder-beads!) and also remember to keep an eye on its packaging. Remember, we're aiming for less plastic here! Want to know some natural, healthy exfoliants you can use instead? Try sea salt, sugar or oatmeal. They're great for the skin and safe for the environment.