"Microbeads are appearing all over the Great Lakes, destroying habitat, fish, and wildlife. They needlessly contaminate our food and water supply. The way government, business, volunteer organizations, and individuals respond to the microbeads crisis will send a signal. It will tell the world and future generations just how much we value our freshwater heritage."
-- Mark Mattson, environmental lawyer
and President of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper.
Krystyn and I started Waterkeeper in the wake of what happened in Walkerton, Ontario. In May 2000, 7 people died and 2,500 people became ill because their right to clean drinking water was compromised.
We like to think that progress has been made in Ontario in the last 14 years, but there are always new and emerging issues to challenge our progress.
Today, the issue I find most baffling, alarming, and frustrating is microbeads.
Because microbeads are too small to filter, millions of tiny plastic particles flood our waterways on a daily basis. Microbeads currently make up 20% of the plastic pollution in the Great Lakes – a source of drinking water for 37 million people. Once microbeads are in our waterways, there’s no telling how to remove them.
As an environmental lawyer, I find that frustrating. I am used to being able to rely on environmental laws to bring major polluters in line.
When pollution comes from millions of people all using products legally, and as directed, it is much harder to protect the waterways I love.
As a Waterkeeper, my role is somewhat simple. It is to remind people that our waterways should be swimmable, drinkable, and fishable. It is to point out – even when it seems trite – that there was a time before tiny plastic beads suffocated fish and birds. There was a time when our collective desire for clean skin and teeth didn’t threaten the survival of wildlife.
As someone who loves the Great Lakes, my role is to suggest it doesn’t have to be this way.