Dougie Poynter - Why We Must Stop Using Microbeads // International campaign against microbeads in cosmetics
I am a human being
from the UK and since the age of three I have been fascinated by the natural
world and conservation. On a recent trip to Los Angeles I was introduced to two
of the most interesting people I have ever met; Anna Cummins and Marcus
Eriksen, the founders of the charity 5 Gyres. They are a mix of paleontologist,
zoologist and environmentalists all rolled into one - the real life Indiana
Jones duo.
Ten minutes into our
introduction Marcus uncovered a camel gastrolith that he had dug up in Dubai -
this was a forty-five pound ball of indigestible plastic found in it’s stomach
(photo above is me actually holding it)! The camel had been eating plastic bags
thinking they were some kind of plant life. It then died of starvation because
it couldn’t digest the plastic and it’s brain was telling him he was full. This
blew my mind and made me fully aware of how big the global plastic problem has
become. As we continued talking they started telling me about a cause they have
been fighting for the past few years, microbeads.
Microbeads are the
tiny plastic balls used mainly in personal care products including toothpastes
that are marketed as “helping to clean you”. After using these products the tiny
beads rinsed down the drain and end up in our waterways and oceans affecting
fish and other animals (not to mention in your gums and in your mouth)! Small
Fish eat these beads thinking they are food. Big fish eat the little fish. We
eat the big fish. One in four fish that we eat has consumed a microplastic that
can be traced back to face scrubs and toothpaste. You get the point. This is a
massive global issue affecting all of us as humans.
There are currently estimated to be
around 800m tonnes of fish in the oceans and 100m to 150m tonnes of plastic.
This is increasing by around 20m tonnes a year, but that growth is expected to
accelerate as far greater numbers of people are able to afford to buy products
that are made with, or packaged in, plastic.
This made me realize that I’ve been using all kinds of products from toothpastes to face scrub for years completely unaware that I am washing and cleaning myself with millions of pieces of plastic! Not cool. As we continued chatting I learned that main reason most of us are not aware of this is that the plastics go by different names such as polyethylene and polypropylene. Manufacturers then take these big words and put them on the bottles but don’t tell you the tiny little dots are plastic. So I thought I was buying products that would make my teeth whiter or body feel better when I was contributing to the problem.
Fast-forward to today and what’s been keeping me up at night is that most people are unaware of this problem. Yes, a ban on microbeads has passed in the US but won’t be in affect until 2018. Here in the UK the government has been talking about a ban for a few years but they are still produced. And in almost every other country around the world they are still legal. Everyday tens of millions of beads are entering our oceans because the beads are too small for the filters in the water treatment plants to catch them and are having a HUGE affect on... well, everything!
international campaign against microbeads in cosmetics
The ocean is responsible for more than half of our oxygen supply. Through plastic pollution, climate change and over fishing we are impacting the balance of nature and in turn shooting ourselves in the foot as a species. If we can be the generation that stops polluting our oceans, the planet will have time to recover. If not then.... well you guys have seen Pixar’s Wall-E right? But we have the power to create change and a shift in culture. Each of us has the ability to voice our opinions against this issue and start conversation about plastic pollution to our friends, family and leaders. Every unused bottle matters. Here is a list of products that contain microbeads by country. Please stop using them.
see also
We could end up with 'as much plastic in our oceans as fish'
