When you wash your hair with Marcel’s Green Soap, you're doing a good thing. Our products don't contain any microplastics. But unfortunately, many other products do. We provide practical tips on how to banish (micro)plastics from your life and the environment.
What are microplastics?
Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic (< 5mm) that are formed by the breakdown of littered plastic and the wearing down of tires and clothing. These plastic particles end up in the environment, including the air, water, soil, and even our food and drinks. This is harmful to everyone. Additionally, many manufacturers intentionally add microplastics to their products to improve the structure, appearance, or performance. Microplastics are used in makeup, creams, deodorants, toothpaste, cleaning products like abrasives, detergents, dishwasher tablets, and paint. These microplastics eventually wash into the environment through wastewater. This needs to change, right?
Microplastic-free brands
At Marcel’s Green Soap, all products are free of microplastics. You can see this from the 'Look for the Zero' and 'Microplastic-Free Formula' labels on our packaging. This ensures that no microplastics leave your home through the drain. Nice, isn't it? Other microplastic-free brands include:- Weleda
- Clipper tea (yes: even tea bags sometimes contain microplastics...)
- Smyle
- Naïf
What can you do?
Prevention is better than cure, especially when it comes to microplastics because plastic doesn't degrade. In fact, littered plastic breaks down into increasingly smaller pieces, making the problem worse. While the health and environmental effects of microplastics haven't been scientifically proven, it's clear that it's a problem. What can you do to prevent pollution from microplastics?- Bring home as few packages as possible. Use reusable bags for your fruits and vegetables, for example.
- Use refills. They contain larger quantities, so you need to bring fewer packages into your home.
- Wear clothing made of natural materials instead of synthetic fabrics.
- Use a laundry bag to wash your synthetic clothing. This will capture microplastics. Synthetic fibers are the main source of microplastics in wastewater.
- Drive as little as possible, ensure your tire pressure is correct, and replace your winter tires on time.
- Scan your personal care products with the Beat the Microbead app to see if they contain microplastics.
- Check the packaging of a product for a microplastic-free label, such as the 'Zero Plastic Inside' label from the Plastic Soup Foundation.
- Use reusable water bottles and coffee-to-go cups to reduce litter.
- Last but not least: separate your plastic waste! So, also throw your empty Marcel’s Green Soap bottle into the plastic waste so it can be reused. Our packaging is not only made of recycled plastic but also recyclable.
Sources:
https://www.consumentenbond.nl/duurzamer-eten/microplastics
https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/
