Activity 3.3.3 – My Plastic Use

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  • 31What are Microplastics?
    • What are microplastics? Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic less than 5mm in diameter. Therefore, many of these microplastics can only be seen through a microscope. Due to their widespread presence, microplastics are a major form of pollution and a real problem for us and our environment.
  • Where they are found?
    • Little did we know nearly everything we touch consists of some form of plastic. Microplastics are found everywhere in our homes, the water we drink, landfills, our environment, the ocean, marine life, humans, animals, and much more. These come from a variety of sources.  There are two microplastic categories, primary and secondary. Primary plastics are intentionally made small for commercial use such as the products we use every day. The plates we eat on, the toothpaste we use, hair products, clothing we wear, paint, and various other everyday items we use. The next category is secondary plastics which happens when larger plastics break down into microplastics. Some secondaries are the water bottles and any plastic that has broken down. Along with many microplastics ending up in humans and animals. 
  • How do they get there
    • These microplastics are found nearly all around us but how do they get there? From the production and breakdown of many products." scientists already understood that plastics continuously fragment in the environment, shredding over time into fibers even smaller than a strand of human hair".(National Geographic) Manufacturers make plastic products or products with microplastics which then break down or end up in our environment.
  • Why they are problematic to humans and the environment.
    • Microplastics are harmful to not only humans but animals and the environment as well. There have been microplastics found within humans specifically nano plastics. Although it is hard to test the affects of microplastics on humans they found some information through a study which found "microplastics have been shown to cause damage to human cells, including both allergic reactions and cell death". (National Geographic) "Scientists aren’t entirely fumbling around in the dark. There is extensive research on toxins found in plastics, as well as on lung diseases, from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to cancer, which kills millions of people every year and has been linked to exposure to other pollutants". (National Geographic) With humans, microplastics can cause severe damage, minimal or nothing. Microplastics can be problematic especially when they absorb chemicals or break down entering our environment. These plastics are absorbed into the soil which enters plant life, animals, and water. Microplastic pollution is a huge concern for marine life, these animals are being affected by ingesting plastic, plastic releasing chemicals into their water, and marine life getting entangled with it as well. All of those are threatening to marine life. Along with it being in human and animal food and water sources. This is an issue because microplastics can not be removed and take up to 1000 years to fully break down. Imagine how many life forms will be affected by microplastics within 1000 years. Some ways to prevent this form of pollution are to stop purchasing fast fashion, have a reusable water jug, use environmentally friendly kitchenware such as glass, and many more ways to live a less pollution lifestyle with simple changes




    Throughout the day we use various items that contain plastics although when we get these items, we don't think about what's in these everyday items. I decided to capture images of one day in my life of items I use that consist of plastic. Within this collage, some of my most used items that contain plastics are my laptop, phone, credit card, gaming remote, gaming chair, monitor, gaming console, and of course my kitchen dishes such as bowls, plates, and cups. Nearly every item I ate whether it was fast food, in my pantry or fridge all were wrapped or in a plastic container. Even my hygiene products are in plastic bottles. Therefore, everything I touched in this image had plastics or microplastics.



Planet or plastic?. National Geographic. (n.d.). https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/topic/planetorplastic#/1234356803947

Parker, L. (2023, May 8). Microplastics are invading our bodies. how severe is the damage?. Environment. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/microplastics-are-in-our-bodies-how-much-do-they-harm-us

Microplastics. Education. (n.d.-a). https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/microplastics/




Used Grammarly throughout whole blog to fix my grammar and punctuation errors.


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