Microplastic in clothes 

Today, our oceans are full of plastic. You have probably seen pictures on the internet of whales with plastic bags in their stomachs and tortoises swimming in a stim of plastic. But not all the plastic in the ocean is noticeable by the eye and this plastic is called microplastics. Microplastic is plastic pieces smaller than 5 mm. Today we have plastic everywhere and we use it almost every day. There's even plastic in our toiletries and clothes. (Anna H Svenson, 2017)

Every time you wash your shirt of polyester for example you let out microplastic that will end up in the ocean. The Microplastics are so small it doesn't stop in the treatment plant and goes straight out into the oceans. Animals eats the plastic and it causes them a lot of problems. The plastic is toxic and is can cause a lot of bad consequences to the animals eating it. The smaller fishes eat the plastic and then, other fishes eat those fishes and after a while it will end up on our plates. How dangerous exactly the plastic is to us humans right now are the scientist still unsure of. But it doesn't take a lot of research to know it´s not good. In a week, we humans get 2000 microplastic particles and this resembles the size of a credit card from water and the food we eat. (WWF, 2019)

The plastic problem is also a big economic problem. The fishing industry and tourism for example, it loses up to a few millions per year because of today's situation. It will also cost a lot of money to clean up the oceans and remove the plastic. So even if you buy a shirt made from fleece because it´s cheaper the society ends up having to pay a big cost to trying to fix the problems. (WWF.2019) It also takes a lot more work and time to remove the plastic then to make sure it doesn't end up there.

In the future there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish. We must do something to change this now and if we don´t take the situation seriously now the ocean will be a disaster in a few years. Everyone must change and help to make the situation better again. Start to buy clothes of more sustainable material. This is not a hard thing to change and doesn't take a lot of effort but will do the society and our oceans so much god. So next time you buy a new shirt think an extra time if you really need a new shirt and if so, be nice to the ocean and buy a shirt of sustainable material.

Alice Lundin

Anna H Svensson (2017) den dolda plasten i dina kläder - så förpestar den haven

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/den-dolda-plasten-i-dina-klader-sa-forpestar-den-havet [29 mars 2020]

WWF (2019) Så mycket mikroplast får vi i oss - som att äta ett kreditkort i veckan

https://www.wwf.se/pressmeddelande/sa-mycket-mikroplast-far-vi-i-oss-som-att-ata-ett-kreditkort-i-veckan-3334499/ [29 mars 2020]