Activity 3.3.3 – My Plastic Use

My Plastic Use

Microplastics

Microplastics are the tiniest particles of plastic or can also be fibers of plastic. They are produced from the breakdown of macroplastics, cosmetics, and synthetic fibers from textiles (Haab, S., & Haab, K. (n.d.), p. 9). Microplastics are derived from petroleum which means they are not biodegradable. This could mean that the plastic is everlasting. In this day and age mostly everything is made out of plastic. It is cheaper to make and it lasts longer. The places you can find a majority of microplastics is in water, whether that be in the ocean or lakes and rivers. The bad thing is that these plastics end up in our water ecosystems by a lack of carefulness or from water runoff in landfills. The plastics then breakdown from the heat of the sun and continue to breakdown until it becomes microplastic pellets. These microplastic pellets in the water are extremely incapable of being filtered out. The microplastics are so small that even in wastewater treatment plants they still pass through their advanced treatment system. "These microplastics are either discharged in the wastewater effluent back into water bodies and waterways, or the microplastics concentrate and accumulate in the sludge produced from the removal of suspended solids during primary and secondary treatment" (Haab, S., & Haab, k. (n.d.), p. 50). Since these microplastics do end up in our water ecosystems many of the marine life end up consuming the plastic. Many researches have found that the species which have consumed the microplastics have had some problems. "Organisms at all trophic levels have felt the impacts of microplastic pollution" (Haab, S., & Haab, K. (n.d.), p. 30). Depending on the species of the organism they can endure different biological issues and because they feed off of each other the cycle of the plastic continues. The plastic can contain toxins that travel within each organism, from the zooplankton to the fox that eats the fish that ate the zooplankton. And each time the plastic does damage to the organism. The microplastic that is left behind in the water can also do damage to the environment by making constructional changes. "Microplastics impact
water movement and heat transfer within sediments, which could have significant impacts on
organisms that live in sediments for all or part of their life cycle and on the overall ecosystem
structure and function" (Haab, S., & Haab, K. (n.d.), p. 40). The microplastics also may allow the spread of disease by pathogens because it promotes pathogen colonization. Lastly, since there is so much accumulation of microplastic in our waters you can definitely bet that we as humans are breathing it and ingesting it. Sadly, we are unsure exactly how bad this can be for our entire ecosystem. But you can guess that either way plastic in our bodies is not a good thing. It's too bad that there is plastic everywhere and in everything. As a woman, I have my fair share of cosmetics that I use that I am certain does contain nylon which is a form of plastic. Essentially it is like putting microplastics on my skin on a daily which can not be good. Microplastics also are in various body wash products so when you wash your body those same microplastics go down the drain and back into our waters. It is an endless cycle that seems impossible to stop. I don't believe we will ever get rid of the millions of microplastics that are in our ecosystem but it definitely is a valuable lesson to learn on the effects of plastic. "All life depends on freshwater, and by degrading it we not only threaten our own existence but also the existence of all life on earth" (Haab, S., & Haab, K. (n.d.), p. 45).

These are some of the plastics I use on a daily. Sadly I could only fit 25 photos but there is definitely more plastic use in my daily life. I try my best to either purchase products that contain natural products without any harsh chemicals as microplastics but it is very hard to do. I also try to buy items that were already recycled so the cycle can continue. The number one thing I would say that contributes to my pollution of plastic use is clothing. I have looked up clothing brands that are made of natural dyes and fibers but it can be a little pricey. I have cut down my spending on brand new synthetic clothing that is easy to get for the sole purpose of knowing how fast fashion can be o the environment. What I have been doing is buying recycled clothing which I see can still have an effect on the synthetic fibers washing up into our waters but not buying brand new clothing shows the company what it is you stand for. Now that I do know the types of different microplastics that are in cosmetic products I will make sure to double-check the ingredients list. I do not want to contribute to the release of more microplastics in our ecosystem. We have to save our world one step at a time, whether that be using plastic less and less as hard as that it.

Work Cited

Haab, S., & Haab, K. (n.d.). The environmental impacts of microplastics: An investigation of microplastic pollution in North Country waterbodies. Adventure Scientists.