it's concerning...
Environmentalists sounded the alarm years ago and there was some concern for a short time after the initial announcements concerning plastics getting into our water systems. But, the awareness didn't last long and the alarm evidently wasn't loud enough. Maybe the task of removing the debris from our waterways is too overwhelming.
It seems just as many restaurants use plastic straws, plastic bags can be found in most supermarkets, and we are still inundated with as many plastic toys as if there never was an alarm or call to action to do something about microbeads ending up in our oceans and Great Lakes.
HUH? What's up with that?
This post is not a scientific endeavor or a pretense of knowledge I don't possess. It is not meant to be a political statement or a call to arms. It is simply a way to share with you a potential danger to our environment.
While on vacation in Florida a couple years ago, I first became aware of the word microbeads that find their way into our oceans as minute pieces of plastic.
It had never occurred to me that using plastic straws posed a danger to wildlife or to creatures of the sea. There had never been a second thought about any harm to our environment every time I filled a plastic bag with my purchases in a supermarket. Buying plastic toys for the grandkids is as natural an act as breathing.
All of these plastic items end up being small pieces of microplastic that are referred to as microbeads.
But, the more I read about the possible dangers to our environment from these microbeads, the more I find myself wanting to do something to help, even if it's just using paper straws or cloth bags for my groceries.
The Microbead-Free Waters Act was signed by President Obama in December of 2015. Basically, it prohibits the addition of plastic microbeads in the manufacturing of personal care products, such as toothpaste, shampoo and soap. They were used as exfoliants and wound up in our oceans and Great Lakes because they weren't caught by water filtering systems.
I sought out an acquaintance, Rick French, a scientist and science teacher at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. He understands the problem.
Mr. French, according to the United Nations Environment Program, we started using microbeads in place of natural ingredients in products about 50 years ago. Why did we do that?
Cost and ease of extraction and supply, he said. Any time you have an industrial process with limited inputs, you create a shortage. When a product is the end run of an industrial process, there is no use for it or reclamation process. Find an answer to all the old cell phones, computers and nuclear waste and you'll become rich.
The Microbead-Free Water Act of 2015 did not ban all microplastics in products. In fact, many items still contain microbeads.
That's true, Mr. French conceded. You'll find microbeads in synthetic clothing, tennis balls, laundry soap, cigarette butts, glitter, wet wipes, and even tea bags. If the cost of dealing with the problem outweighs the cost in daily ease and the conversion process to discover new methods and materials, it isn't very well supported.
But, in the end, if it proves to be harmful, why continue down that path?
Probably because it comes down to money, he guessed. Businesses are developed to make these products and to change them costs lots of money and time. We aren't giving these companies incentives to make them want to change.
It seems like there is a moral obligation to help fix what's wrong.
The way I see it, he acknowledged, companies don't want to face a risk of loss. There may even be a resistance to facing an uncertain future. Besides, who is to say that what we transition to is better than what's being done now?
So, stay the course?
Well, there are probably more arguments for no change than dealing with the imminent threat, he conceded.
Is there anything we can do to keep these microbeads out of our waterways?
One method might be to treat them as oil spills, he answered. We could see if there are organics and other nanotech mechanisms to break them down and neutralize them and convert them into a bonded substance that could be dealt with.
Sounds complicated.
The entire process would be tough due to volume and mass of the debris, he surmised. And, think of the size of the oceans and lakes.
According to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it's only been in the last decade we've become aware of the dangers of plastic in the environment. Is it too late?
It's never too late to make a transition, he said. The problem with having enough where-with-all, clout, political and public outrage, is that the pain oft times is necessary to feel the discomfort before enough force is present to change.
We have a lot to deal with right now, don't we.
Absolutely. The pressure of other more pressing issues like global warming, the pandemic, outweigh these longer term issues, he acknowledged.
So, the problem appears to be too big or overwhelming.
In a way, he conceded. Microbeads seem too global to contend with right now. The sense of futility adds to the lack of motivation and direction, so issues like that get put on the back burner. For right now, this is one of those it's bigger than all of us problems. Society has helplessness and burnout issues when faced with too many needs.
NOAA has a lot of material online about microplastics and microbeads and the research being done at this time.
Coming up: meet a 12 year old talent with exceptional potential; meet more Encore Performers, and; we'll celebrate a landmark.
Final word about the environment. It comes from the bachelor grandson of a friend of mine. He says when he meets a woman he immediately starts talking about global warming because it's a real ice-breaker.
HUH? What's up with that?
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