Microbeads…haven’t heard of them? Coming soon to your plate

It’s a classic case of corporate greed. Cosmetics companies want to save money so they replace natural exfoliants with plastic substitutes. Consumers unknowingly end up washing tiny plastic balls down the drain. They are too small for wastewater treatment plants to filter out, so they end up in our waterways, where they are consumed by fish. This is bad for the fish of course, since plastic is not their natural diet, but it’s also bad for those higher up on the food chain — larger fish, birds, and of course, humans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily, there is an international campaign against microbeads, and in recent news, the state of California just banned them.

What you can do is avoid products that contain microbeads. Check the appropriate list for your country, and boycott away.

 

Everyone Needs Clean Water

My newly shaved cat, Sketch, visits the water bowl.

I’m about to turn another year old, and once again I’ve chosen to donate my birthday to charity:water (an A-rated fund on Charity Watch), in hopes that people such as yourself will donate to my clean water campaign.

What’s cool about this is that the money we collect is combined with others and then designated for a specific site. Once you donate, you will periodically get updates on how the project is coming.

If you’re curious, check out the project page for the campaign I helped fund two years ago, which helped 320 people in Rwanda get clean water.

Please give generously, if you can.