Greenpeace: majority of Britons support microbead ban

A poll by Greenpeace indicates that nearly two-thirds of Britons would like to see the plastic microbeads used in toiletries banned and a petition supporting a British ban has received over 250k signatures. The beads are too small to be filtered during water treatment and therefore end up in oceans where they can damage fish and other sea life. Oceans are currently estimated to contain 5tn pieces of plastic. The US banned the beads last year and Canada is set to follow suit; some EU nations – not including the UK – have also called for a ban. Meanwhile, Unilever stopped using the beads in 2015 and L’Oréal is committed to phasing them out by 2017. The environmental audit committee is currently investigating the ecological and health risks of the beads.  

UPDATE: Over 330,000 people have signed the petition to ban microbeads - add your name here.

Washed your face with an exfoliating face scrub recently? Brushed your teeth with some smooth minty toothpaste? Unfortunately then, you may have unknowingly smothered gross, polluting plastic on your body. While fancy adverts lead us to believe these products are good for us - both beauty experts and ethical campaigners are now criticising the inclusion of tiny pieces of plastic called microbeads.

Why should you care about microbeads? Well, there’s already tonnes of plastic swirling around our beautiful oceans - bottle tops, plastic bags and lots more. In fact, about 8 million tonnes of plastic enters the oceans every year. These kinds of things end up in the stomachs of seabirds, whales, turtles and other marine life. Microbeads are a particuarly annoying culprit - they're so small they are unable to be filtered by our sewage systems and pollute our oceans no end.

Ocean plastic does not disappear by itself, so for every bit that ends up in the ocean, it means more cleaning up - with much of it impossible to tackle at all. Not to mention that if you eat fish some of this plastic could end up on your dinner plate - yum.

But the tide is turning against unnecessary plastic - just look at the plastic bag charge implemented in the UK this year. There's progress too when it comes to microbeads, President Obama has just outlawed them - and so has the Canadian government. Now we’re hoping that Theresa May will decide to follow in their footsteps and cut down on the disgusting plastic filling our oceans.

Here’s a quick-run down of what you need to know about microbeads:

What are microbeads? Microbeads are tiny pieces of plastic that are added to everyday cosmetic products face wash, toothpaste, abrasive cleaners and lots more. They are most frequently made of polyethylene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene. Microbeads are small enough to go down your plughole and easily pass water filtration systems, usually smaller than 5 millimetres.

How do they affect the ocean? Microbeads are tiny, and may seem harmless, but 100,000 microbeads are washed down the sink with a single application of some products, ending up in the sea and the food chain.

Where do they end up? New scientific research is continuing to find more and more examples of plastic inside all kinds of sealife. But it’s not just marine life, a recent study showed that 90 per cent of birds have plastic in their stomachs too! Microbeads end up in humans through toothpaste and through eating seafood that has ingested microplastics and the toxins that come with them. Check out this really useful infographic to find out more.

Who’s campaigning and taking action? Canada and America are banning them. Companies like Asda, Avon, the Bodyshop, L’Oreal and Boots are pledging not to use them on their own brand products - but they may still stock other products with microbeads in. NGOs and campaigners are working with brands for an end to the use of microbeads and asking governments to consider banning them all together.

How can I find out if products include microbeads and limit my use of them? You can find a list of companies who are pledging not to use microbeads here. You can check your toothpaste and cleaning products for the use of microbeads. If you want to go all natural, you can also try exfoliating with natural products like kernels, sugar or a wash cloth.

We shouldn’t have to watch out for such unnecessary and damaging ingredients though - so make sure to sign and share the petition to Theresa May asking her to ban these unnecessary things for good.