Background
The Bring Your Own Bag campaign is a staple collective effort worldwide that aims to combat the alarming rates of plastic bag wastage by encouraging its reduced use. Yet, scientists have found that plastics STILL find their way to the world’s largest bodies of water in the millions of tonnes every year! 1
Why is this the case? What can I do about it?
Glad you asked! Let us talk about tiny plastic fragments called microplastics, and its harm on the environment and its human and non-human inhabitants.
What is it? Definition and classifications
According to the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), plastic fragments that “are less than 5 millimeters in length” are referred to as “microplastics”.4
As discussed by Dr. Cheung Siu-Gin, a marine pollution scientist at a local university in Hong Kong, in a recent SCMP article, microplastics are formed in three ways1:
- Microplastics as a product of a natural disintegration of larger plastic waste by ocean waves or heat from the sun (usually formed as irregularly shaped fragments);
- Man-made microplastics as a product of manufacturing personal care items (usually formed as small beads); and
- Microplastics as a product of fish or other sea animals eating plastic waste (usually formed as neat triangles).
Microplastics released to the oceans and seas come from a variety of sources. Apart from the common imagination of large plastic products being abandoned on the beaches, microplastics result from wastewater that include chemicals from common household products, like toothpaste or cosmetic products.4 As if it could not get even closer to home, research has shown that laundering clothes made from synthetic fabrics also contribute to the microplastics problem, through the release of microfibers in the wastewater.2, 3
What is the scope of the problem with microplastics?
According to recent research study2 published on plastic and marine pollution, they found that “microplastics have been found in 90% of all surface waters worldwide, with microfibers making up 91% of this.” (p.1) Both domestic and commercial laundering causes shedding of synthetic fabrics.
The toll that microplastics have on the environment and its inhabitants are accumulated gradually, for example, as it makes its way up the food chain, potentially causing health complications, or slowly releases harmful chemicals into the environment.1
So, what can we do about it?
Although the small size of microplastics (about the size of a sesame seed4) poses a challenge to removing by hand, it is certainly possible to do so, for example in beach cleanup operations.1
Some companies have produced products that capture loose synthetic fibers before the wastewater is drained during the laundering process.
We can use less plastic products (for example, replacing the plastic bag with a tote bag) and be mindful consumers of products that are processed using plastics. A recent press conference by Green Sense revealed that plastic waste skyrocketed since COVID-19 as consumers increasingly bought from online merchandisers and relied on delivery options for purchased products.5 Based on the data they collected, an estimated 780 million pieces of packaging were used in 2020, with an average of 2.32 pieces of packaging per delivered product.5
Visit shops that implement ‘green’ measures, such as those that use biodegradable packaging materials or those that do not use plastic cutlery.
Cited materials
2 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844021012081