This 2-minute “explainer” shows how tiny plastic microbeads are designed to go down the drain and into our rivers, lakes, and oceans and we can do to stop this ridiculous assault on our public waters. TAKE ACTION: http://bit.ly/banthebead

The new video is being released to support growing efforts in the United States, Canada, Europe and elsewhere to outlaw the tiny plastic beads, an increasingly common ingredient in personal care products that escapes most water treatment plants and pollutes the environment.

Microbeads, which can be found in everything from facial scrubs and soap to toothpaste and makeup,show up on ingredient labels under their material names: polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate or polymethyl methacrylate. Scientists have estimated that as many as a half billion plastic microbeads enter the San Francisco Bay alone each day. Microbeads have been found in over 35 samples of wastewater effluent across the United States.Narrated by the Story of Stuff Project’s founder and current Greenpeace USA Executive Director Annie Leonard, the video uses the trademark Story of Stuff animated style to spotlight the fundamental problem with microbeads: that they’re “designed to go down the drain.”

Source: The Story of Stuff • Follow on Blog | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube