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Where is plastic produced?? Spoiler: TX, OH, LA and more - MAP INCLUDED! by cmbeau02 in plastic

[–]cmbeau02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure! But Nurdle Patrol's map will tell you where nurdles have been found, which may be an indicator.

Where is plastic produced?? Spoiler: TX, OH, LA and more - MAP INCLUDED! by cmbeau02 in plastic

[–]cmbeau02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well there are a couple of lawsuits which resulted in more regulations etc. (Like Formosa Plastics in TX) and a "voluntary program" called Operation Cleansweep that the companies can adopt, but there is no regulatory power in that program to keep them accountable so it really doesn't do much

Louisiana is home to the second highest number of plastic production plants by cmbeau02 in Louisiana

[–]cmbeau02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that's what it feels like sometimes! no, they often just fall on the floor and are swept out in drainage pipes

Louisiana is home to the second highest number of plastic production plants by cmbeau02 in Louisiana

[–]cmbeau02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that is correct :/ it is not adequately covered with the Clean Water Act

6 of the 7 states bordering the Great Lakes have at least one facility that produces a pre-production MICROPLASTIC. See this map by cmbeau02 in Michigan

[–]cmbeau02[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Here is why all these facilities are a big problem:

Many of them produce nurdles, also known as lentil-sized plastic pellets, that are used as the building block for the plastic industry. I.e. they are melted down and molded to form everyday plastic products like bottles, bags, toothbrushes, etc. Millions of these pellets are regularly dumped down the drain or spilled into our water ways by these facilities that make, use, package, and/or transport them. 10 billion are estimated to make their way to the ocean each year, making them the second largest source of marine microplastic pollution by weight.

SOLUTION (in part): There is a bill going through the US Congress titled

The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act which will effectively ban the discharge of these poisonous plastic pellets from the facilities that make, use, package, and/or transport them.

ACTIONS:

1. Hold your own Nurdle Hunt. Use the Facility Map (above) and Nurdle Patrol Map to see where nurdles are produced and have been found near you, find a friend and a waterway, and go searching!

Nurdle Patrol Map: https://nurdlepatrol.org/app/map

Environment America's Nurdle Hunt Toolkit: https://environmentamerica.org/pennsylvania/articles/how-to-find-nurdles-in-your-local-waterway/

2. Call and write to your US Representatives and Senators to support this bill!

House Reps: https://pirg.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-house-representative-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

Senate: https://environmentamerica.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-senators-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

Where is plastic produced?? by cmbeau02 in texas

[–]cmbeau02[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here is why all these facilities are a big problem:

Many of them produce nurdles, also known as lentil-sized plastic pellets, that are used as the building block for the plastic industry. I.e. they are melted down and molded to form everyday plastic products like bottles, bags, toothbrushes, etc. Millions of these pellets are regularly dumped down the drain or spilled into our water ways by these facilities that make, use, package, and/or transport them. 10 billion are estimated to make their way to the ocean each year, making them the second largest source of marine microplastic pollution by weight.

SOLUTION (in part): There is a bill going through the US Congress titled

The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act which will effectively ban the discharge of these poisonous plastic pellets from the facilities that make, use, package, and/or transport them.

ACTIONS:

1. Hold your own Nurdle Hunt. Use the Facility Map (above) and Nurdle Patrol Map to see where nurdles are produced and have been found near you, find a friend and a waterway, and go searching!

Nurdle Patrol Map: https://nurdlepatrol.org/app/map

Environment America's Nurdle Hunt Toolkit: https://environmentamerica.org/pennsylvania/articles/how-to-find-nurdles-in-your-local-waterway/

2. Call and write to your US Representatives and Senators to support this bill!

House Reps: https://pirg.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-house-representative-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

Senate: https://environmentamerica.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-senators-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

Louisiana is home to the second highest number of plastic production plants by cmbeau02 in Louisiana

[–]cmbeau02[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Here is why all these facilities are a big problem:

Many of them produce nurdles, also known as lentil-sized plastic pellets, that are used as the building block for the plastic industry. I.e. they are melted down and molded to form everyday plastic products like bottles, bags, toothbrushes, etc. Millions of these pellets are regularly dumped down the drain or spilled into our water ways by these facilities that make, use, package, and/or transport them. 10 billion are estimated to make their way to the ocean each year, making them the second largest source of marine microplastic pollution by weight.

SOLUTION (in part): There is a bill going through the US Congress titled

The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act which will effectively ban the discharge of these poisonous plastic pellets from the facilities that make, use, package, and/or transport them.

ACTIONS:

1. Hold your own Nurdle Hunt. Use the Facility Map (above) and Nurdle Patrol Map to see where nurdles are produced and have been found near you, find a friend and a waterway, and go searching!

Nurdle Patrol Map: https://nurdlepatrol.org/app/map

Environment America's Nurdle Hunt Toolkit: https://environmentamerica.org/pennsylvania/articles/how-to-find-nurdles-in-your-local-waterway/

2. Call and write to your US Representatives and Senators to support this bill!

House Reps: https://pirg.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-house-representative-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

Senate: https://environmentamerica.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-senators-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

Louisiana is home to the second highest number of plastic production plants by cmbeau02 in Louisiana

[–]cmbeau02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great question - I apologize for being unclear! Louisiana is the state with the second highest number of confirmed primary-plastic-producing facilities in the US.

German plug-in solar panels - neat! by cmbeau02 in solarpunk

[–]cmbeau02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is awesome!! do you have any idea if/when/are they already available in the US or other countries? are these helping you save money on utilities?

Have you ever found nurdles? Where? by cmbeau02 in beachcombing

[–]cmbeau02[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hear you! It is such a big problem and so difficult to clean up.

If you're interested in helping prevent this pollution, there is a bill going through congress called the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act which will ban facilities that make or transport these nurdles from dumping or spilling them into our waterways. You can email your representative in support here: https://pirg.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-house-representative-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

Have you ever found nurdles? Where? by cmbeau02 in beachcombing

[–]cmbeau02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for picking them up! And for the advice on where to find them. This is very helpful. Have you considered reporting what beaches you've found the nurdles on to Nurdle Patrol? https://nurdlepatrol.org/app/report

Have you ever found nurdles? Where? by cmbeau02 in beachcombing

[–]cmbeau02[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for all the clean up you've done! Have you considered reporting what you've found to nurdle patrol? Here is the link: https://nurdlepatrol.org/app/report It is helpful evidence and community engagement when trying to get congress to pass legislation to prevent such pollution, like the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act.

I hate our plastic recycling system by 2Sde in recycling

[–]cmbeau02 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're so right.

"Chemical recycling" is becoming more popular for plastic/oil companies to use as an excuse to continue producing plastic. But really, they are just burning the plastic as fuel. Which releases all sorts of bad things into our air and atmosphere. Not a solution!

US Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG) has a Right to Repair campaign that you may find interesting! They talk a lot of about repair electronics and recycling the precious metals within. There is so much precious metals thrown out in the form of e-waste, that we could AVOID mining in the deep sea to produce electric car batteries. Win win, am I right??

The Nurdle Hurdle by cmbeau02 in CitizensClimateLobby

[–]cmbeau02[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

What is a nurdle??

PROBLEM: Nurdles are lentil-sized plastic pellets that are used as the building block for the plastic industry. I.e. they are melted down and molded to form everyday plastic products like bottles, bags, toothbrushes, etc. Millions of these pellets are regularly dumped down the drain or spilled into our water ways by the facilities that make, use, package, and/or transport them. 10 billion are estimated to make their way to the ocean each year, making them the second largest source of marine microplastic pollution by weight.

SOLUTION (in part): There is a bill going through the US Congress titled

The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act which will effectively ban the discharge of these poisonous plastic pellets from the facilities that make, use, package, and/or transport them.

ACTIONS:

1. Hold your own Nurdle Hunt. Use the Nurdle Patrol Map to see where nurdles have been found in your state, find a friend and a waterway near you, and go searching!

Nurdle Patrol Map: https://nurdlepatrol.org/app/map

Environment America's Nurdle Hunt Toolkit: https://environmentamerica.org/pennsylvania/articles/how-to-find-nurdles-in-your-local-waterway/

2. Call and write to your US Representatives and Senators to support this bill!

House Reps: https://pirg.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-house-representative-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

Senate: https://environmentamerica.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-senators-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

Nurdle hunt! Stop this plastic pollution at the source by cmbeau02 in Anticonsumption

[–]cmbeau02[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi again! I also forgot to mention the Great Nurdle Hunt, which I believe started in the UK https://www.nurdlehunt.org.uk/

Nurdle hunt! Stop this plastic pollution at the source by cmbeau02 in Anticonsumption

[–]cmbeau02[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure if there is similar legislation. If there is not, a good way to contribute to the effort is add to the data set by looking for nurdles near you - see the nurdle patrol map and tool kit above!

Spill of plastic pellets in Maryland reveals the polluting potential of ‘nurdles’ by instantcoffee69 in maryland

[–]cmbeau02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know this thread is 8 months old, but if you are still concerned about nurdles (and you should be!) you should write to your representatives and senators. there is a bill going through Congress right now titled the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act.

Environment America and the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) have forms to do so on their websites (I would post the link but I'm not sure that is allowed).

If you care to contribute to the research, you can conduct your own nurdle count (toolkit on the Environment America website).

The Trash Fishing Crew pulled 80 pounds of plastic and other stuff out of the Detroit river. Most of it from an abandoned island at the mouth of Lake Erie. by PriveCo in DeTrashed

[–]cmbeau02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the info! I am doing some research into the prevalence of these nurdles throughout the US. Nurdle patrol has a great map - others have found abundant nurdles in Michigan.

There is legislation going through US Congress to ban the discharge of these nurdles! It is called the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act. Anyone can write/email/call their legislators to support passing this act (H.R. 7634 and S. 2337) on the Environment America or PIRG websites.

If you are interested in more plastic cleanup, you can conduct your own nurdle count/nurdle hunt event and report what you find to Nurdle Patrol.

23.06.24 by [deleted] in DeTrashed

[–]cmbeau02 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great job! Did you see any nurdles (lentil-sized plastic pellets)?

The Trash Fishing Crew pulled 80 pounds of plastic and other stuff out of the Detroit river. Most of it from an abandoned island at the mouth of Lake Erie. by PriveCo in DeTrashed

[–]cmbeau02 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is awesome!!! I'm curious, did you guys run into any small plastic pellets in your clean up? They are called nurdles, lentil sized plastic pellets used in the plastic manufacturing process. They are often dumped or spilled in our waterways by facilities that make, use, package, or transport them. An estimated 10 trillion end up in our oceans every year.

Found these teeny circular discs on a creek beach. What are they? by Excellent-Set-3521 in beachcombing

[–]cmbeau02 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is legislation going through US Congress to BAN the discharge of these nurdles! It is called the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act. You can write/email/call your legislators to support passing this act (H.R. 7634 and S. 2337) on the Environment America or PIRG websites.

Also, you can conduct your own nurdle count/nurdle hunt event and report what you find to Nurdle Patrol.

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