They're called nurdles, and I almost wish I didn't know about them. Nurdle sounds so innocent, almost like a cuddly cartoon character, but there's nothing cute about them. Nurdles are pre-production plastic pellets the size of a grain of rice. They are the first stage in the creation of the myriad plastic products that we buy every day. These little pellets made out of virgin plastic resin are melted and molded into any form that the manufacturer desires. Nurdles are the beginnings of our water bottles, plastic bags, and containers. Lightweight, shippable, and endlessly malleable, nurdles are easy to transport and easy to lose.
60 billion pounds of nurdles are produced and transported in the United States every year. When that many lightweight plastic pellets are on the move, it's a guarantee that a portion will end up escaping into the environment. Nurdles spill out of packing crates, are dumped out of improperly packed trains, , and are often poorly contained at the manufacturing site. Because they are so lightweight, they have a tendency to blow on the wind and accumulate in waterways. Eventually, much of the debris ends up in the ocean where fish and birds mistake nurdles for food. Now they are also in our Great Lakes. From the remote shores of Lake Superior to the beaches of Lake Huron, millions of tiny plastic pellets are becoming mixed with the water and sand. The picture I have posted above is recent; these pellets washed up in October on Lake Huron beaches near the town of Port Albert, Ontario.
As a lifelong resident of Michigan, some of my most memorable days have been spent along the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Pre-production plastic nurdles have combined with unfathomable amounts of plastic debris to turn our oceans into a plastic soup; the latest research suggests that there is six times more plastic in the ocean than algae. I have seen evidence of the our plastic oceans with my own eyes. I have walked a Florida beach and held handfuls of sand that were speckled with thousands of plastic bits. Are our Great Lakes headed for this fate? I certainly hope not. The Great Lakes are the the world's largest fresh water system, and I shudder to think that they will soon be full of plastic.
It was always easy for me to justify my plastic purchases by telling myself that I would dispose of my plastic responsibly. I thought my plastic would either be recycled or safely tucked into a landfill. Disposal, though, isn't the only problem. By purchasing plastic, I was authorizing more manufacture, more nurdles, and more opportunity for those little, evil pellets to enter our lakes. Before I buy any new plastic, I must now ask myself is it worth it? It saddens me to think that I might be the last generation to sit on a plastic free beach.
Links to articles regarding plastic nurdles on our Great Lakes beaches:
Lake Superior's Plastic Pellets
Lake Huron's Plastic Problem
A link that explains the gargantuan plastic problem in the ocean:
Nurdles and Other Plastic Pollutants
This is a link to the foundation founded by Charles Moore, a recreational sailor who discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Cousteau, speaking about the tremendous plastic problem in our oceans.
Fabien Cousteau
Great post! Thank you.
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