California is the latest state to ban plastic microbeads that have taken over the cosmetic industry. These little plastic balls are used as exfoliants usually, but once they are washed down the drain, they enter the oceans and other resources as more toxic beads than they originally started out as. This means that fish consume them, then we eat them. According to the New York Times Article from last week, California has one of the strictest laws of all states that have banned the beads; they have banned industries to even create biodegradable microbeads.
The article also referred to the “Story of Stuff” video on microbeads, which went into more detail on why they are so bad for the environment and for humans. This brings me to my own personal care product created by “Neutrogena naturals” which is their purifying pore scrub using willow bark and jojoba beads for exfoliation. I bought this product over the summer and I have been very happy with the result, but also happy to not feel guilty about the product I’m using.
NY times article : http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/09/business/california-bans-plastic-microbeads.html
Story of Stuff Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=131&v=uAiIGd_JqZc
Eco Friendly face scrub by Neutrogena: http://naturals.neutrogena.com/products/pore-scrub
This is a really interesting issue that I had never heard about until recently. It is interesting how we use products every day but are not sure about their environmental impacts. I’m glad California was once again on the forefront in preventing harmful environmental impacts!