By Laurel Chor August 6, 2015 / 12:57 HKT
Plastic microbeads extracted from a popular face scrub sold in Hong Kong. (Photo: Plastic Free Seas)
Plastic Free Seas, a Hong Kong-based organisation dedicated to making society rethink it use of plastic, has launched a petition urging the government to ban the sale, important and production of personal care products containing plastic microbeads.
You may have never heard of the term microbeads, but you’ve probably slathered some on yourself before. Many face and body scrubs use tiny beads of plastic to help exfoliate your skin, which are then washed down the drain and right into the ocean.
The plastic beads don’t break down and are virtually impossible to remove, but they do absorb toxic chemicals like pesticides and flame retardants, and often ending up in the stomachs and gills of sea creatures like shrimp, crabs and plankton. In turn, those smaller creatures end up getting eaten by other animals – including humans.
Fortunately for our skin, our oceans and the health of both sea creatures and people alike, there are biodegradable alternatives that can be used, such as ground nut shells and salt or sugar crystals.
“If we can get Hong Kong to change the laws on importation then companies will have to change their ingredients to continue business here,” says Tracey Read, the founder and CEO of Plastic Free Seas.
“A change of ingredients does not just benefit Hong Kong, but it will also mean that plastic-microbead-free products will then be sold all around Asia. A win in Hong Kong is a big win for our shared waterways.”
The US state of Illinois passed a plastic microbead ban last year, while New York, California and Ohio may follow suit. In New York alone, 19 tonnes of microbeads get flushed down its drains every year, according to theEconomist.
A ban in the Netherlands will come into effect by the end of next year, and Canada’s government will be adding plastic microbeads to their List of Toxic Substances.
Check out the petition in English hereand in Chinese here.
http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2015/08/06/hong-kong-charity-launches-petition-ban-plastic-microbeads-face-and-body-scrubs
