At Park we're slowly but surely working to remove single use plastics from our office but what about the products we use daily in our homes.

Did you know Plastic cotton buds are found on beaches and in waterways all around the world? According to the Marine Conservation Society plastic cotton buds were the sixth most common plastic waste item found on British beaches in 2016!

As there's no proper way to dispose of them plastic cotton buds are among the thousands of sanitary products flushed down toilets everyday instead of being put in the bin. Once flushed down toilets, plastic cotton buds enter the sewage system and can reach the marine environment in various ways.

Being made of plastic, cotton buds will persist for hundreds of years. Over time the natural elements break them down smaller and smaller eventually becoming microscopic particles where they may be eaten marine life. Ingested plastic has the potential to result in bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals in the bodies of marine animals. These chemicals are either contaminants that have accumulated onto the plastics while they have been in the environment, to components of the plastic itself which have been released as it breaks down.

To read more and take a pledge to help remove these from the seas visit https://www.cottonbudproject.org.uk/
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