Microplastics, such as microbeads, fibers, or fragments, are defined as plastic pieces less than 5 millimeters in size. Microplastics have been found in wastewater, freshwater rivers and lakes, groundwater, oceans, drinking water, and the Great Lakes. The small size of microplastics allows for their easy entry into food chains and makes monitoring and detection difficult. Some common sources of microplastics are cleaning and personal products, laundry wastewater, and the breakdown of larger plastics.

What you do in your community impacts local water resources and ultimately the Great Lakes watershed. Microplastic pollution may be reduced by your every day actions like picking up litter, recycling, and choosing reusable products instead of disposable plastics. Laundry bags used inside the washing machine and laundry wastewater filters capture microfibers from clothing and keep them out of laundry wastewater.

Take the pledge below to commit to reducing microplastic pollution.