Shopping and Consumer Choices
The Frog will explore The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual Guide to 100 Climate Solutions by Heidi Roop in the first 100 days of 2024
In the first `100 days of 2024 we will explore 100 climate solutions that may “empower you to evaluate, engage, and act” to address on-going climate change as an individual on your terms.
Clothes wear out. Shirts and socks get thinner and “threadbare”. As you drive your car, your tires become progressively bald until you replaced them. Take a minute and reflect. Where do the fibers in your clothes and the rubber in your tires go?
Normal wear and tear of everyday objects results in the formation of microscopic plastic particles and fibers that are referred to as microplastics. On the order of 5 mm and smaller, these tiny bits of rubber, fibers, and plastics accumulate in the environment and represent as dire an existential threat to life on earth as on-going climate change.
About 80% of the microplastics in the environment come from textiles, tires, and dust generated in urban areas. You might have also heard of microbeads, which are microplastic products added to other products such as cosmetics. These have nominally been banned in many countries including the US, but still find their way into products and then into the environment.
Microplastics are found everywhere, including the ocean, sea ice, freshwater, soil wildlife and in increasing concentration in humans. For the first time in 2022, microplastics were found in fresh snow in Antarctica.
It is the global accumulation of microplastics in the ocean that has a serious climate implication. It is estimated that 12 million metric tons of plastic enters the ocean each year. The plastic is broken down into small fragments that can have serious effects on marine ecosystems. For more detail see Microplastics pose risk to ocean plankton, climate, other key Earth systems.
The climate issue is related to the zooplankton that are the basis for the marine food chain. A key ocean process is called the carbon or biological pump. Carbon dioxide is dissolved into the ocean and taken up by the zooplankton. As part of the cycle, the carbon ends up being stored in the deep ocean. Microplastics can reduce feeding rates and fertility and increase mortality of zooplankton, disrupting this carbon pump process. It can also result in increased algae blooms which locally reduces oxygen levels and degrades the overall health of the oceans.
Microplastics may be an intractable problem. How does one clean the large plastic trash from the ocean, let alone filter for plastics on the microscale? Closer to home, your local ecosystem may be impacted by microparticles of rubber from tire wear from your car and your local wastewater treatment system might not be dealing effectively with microfibers from synthetic fabrics that you launder.
Effective actions to take? Individually, consume less, use less plastic, drive less, and consider how you launder you clothes with synthetic fibers. For laundry, Patagonia has some useful suggestions.
Also consider supporting organizations like the Plastic Soup Foundation or the Plastics Pollution Coalition and lending your strong voice to their cause. It will take a focused, dedicated, and sustained effort to address the problem of microplastics in our oceans, in marine life, and in our bodies.
Next Up: Climate Action in 2024 – Day 46: Make More Thoughtful Online Purchases
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