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These are microbeads.
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They're little pieces of plastic smaller than a grain of sand.
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And they're everywhere.
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You might be swishing them around in your mouth or rubbing them in your face!
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Yuck!
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Microbeads are in lots of stuff, but they show up most in personal care products.
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Face soap and body wash. Toothpaste.
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You could even be filling in those smile lines with the plastic in "age-defying" makeup!
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Companies put them in these products as exfoliants or just for texture, but there's no proof they even help!
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And you might not realize that you're using them, unless you know what to look for.
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But the biggest problem with microbeads is that they're designed to go down the drain.
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They're so small most water treatment plants can't capture them...so billions are ending up in our waterways every day.
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And even worse, these tiny bits of plastic act like sponges, soaking up the toxics around them.
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So a single microbead can end up being a million times more toxic than the water around it.
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Once in our waterways they get eaten by fish and other animals.
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And could make their way right back to you in your sushi!
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How's that for the circle of life!
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So why do companies put these plastic microbeads in their products to begin with?
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Well, for one, plastic's cheaper than the natural exfoliants we used to use.
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Plus it's an excuse to sell more stuff!
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Those natural exfoliants works so well you could only use them once a week!
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Microbeads are smooth enough to use every day which means you run out quicker!
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And have to buy more of that product.
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Sure, we can try to avoid products with microbeads.
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But isn't the bigger problem what companies put on the shelf in the first place?
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The good news is some companies are already removing plastic microbeads from their products.
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And many places are considering outright bans!
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No matter where you live, there are ways to take action.
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Come on! We don't need the beads!
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Let's get them out of our stuff, out of our waterways, and out of our bodies.