Inspired by Scholastica

Nurdles in the Oceans

In recent years, I have become more conscientious about care of our environment. I recycle paper, pop cans, plastic, peelings and clothing. Our community practices composting and has eliminated the use of pesticides. I know this is only a tiny contribution to a cleaner, safer environment, but it’s a beginning.

Then I learned about nurdles, tiny plastic pellets used as building blocks for most plastic products. Scientists estimate that 10 trillion of them enter our oceans every year. Even though that number is staggering, the companies responsible are seldom penalized.

Often fish, birds, and turtles eat these pellets that they think are food. They then think they are full but get no nutrients and often starve to death. Most people have never heard of nurdles, but they are dangerous polluters of our environment. When companies dump them down the drain, they become contaminated with dirt and dust. From the moment nurdles are created, they are at risk of entering the environment through spills, leaks or transportation mishaps.

The Clean Water Act has reduced contamination in our oceans, but because nurdle pollution is relatively new, it has slipped by with fewer regulations even though it is the second largest source of pollution in our waterways. We need to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to make stricter laws for companies that practice dumping these nurdles into our oceans.

However, it is not only big companies that need to be more responsible for keeping our waterways clean. All of us are often negligent with our plastic cups, containers, bags, cutlery, trays, and other plastic products. We think, “Oh, this is such a small thing, it won’t make any difference.”  Multiply that by a hundred thousand, and it is no longer negligible. So it’s not only nurdles from companies, but every small plastic thing we throw into a river that contributes to polluted waterways.

So we need to urge the EPA to pass stricter laws for companies that throw nurdles into the ocean, but we also need to be more conscientious about our small actions that contribute to water pollution.

 

Barbara Mayer, OSB