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Have you ever heard of a nurdle? At first I thought it was one of those long, spongy floatation sticks that you see kids bouncing on in swimming pools during the summer. Mr. Steward kindly informed me that those are actually called “noodles.” It makes sense I guess.
I decided to go on an Internet quest to find out about the mysterious nurdle. What I found was eye-opening, to say the least. I would say that the hurdles of the nurdles are right up there with the plastic-bag crises and the quandary of the Pacific Trash Vortex (a.k.a. the “Eastern Garbage Patch”). Sounds like some kind of Bermuda Triangle–Blair Witch Project story that folks tell each other around a campfire, huh?
Let’s start from the beginning…
A nurdle is actually a tiny pellet that industries use to mold into the plastics we know today, such as toys, storage containers, bottles and tubs. Nurdles are basically the raw materials of plastic production.
Smaller than a pea, nurdles come in an assortment of colors. As much as 60 billion pounds of nurdles are manufactured in the United Stated in one year.
Have you ever spilled a box of seeds in your backyard? Nurdles are about as light as a seed, and you can imagine the mess if a box or even a train full of nurdles spilled. Well, it has happened — and not only train-sized, but ship-sized containers of nurdles have leaked into our environment!
Nurdles are so light that they can travel by wind and currents, similar to specks of dust and sand. Today, you can find nurdles just about everywhere on the beach.
Scientists have studied handfuls of beach sand and found about 20 percent consisted of plastic, with an average of each handful containing around 30 nurdles.
Unfortunately, waterborne nurdles (termed “mermaid tears”) are toxic magnets for pollutants like DDT and PCBs. Once a nurdle sucks up these toxins, a single nurdle can become one million times more toxic than the surrounding water in which it floats.
Like plastic containers and bags, nurdles have the tendency to break down into smaller toxic bits through water and sun degradation. These plastic bits have even been known to grind themselves into a powdery substance that can go anywhere and be devoured by anything.
From nylon and polyester to polyvinyl chloride, scientists already have identified nine different kinds of plastics in the ocean. When nurdles become plastic powder, even the ocean’s smallest creatures like zooplankton eat the nurdles.
Thinking back to Marine Biology 101, zooplankton play an essential role in the aquatic food web. These tiny creatures may be gulped down by ocean fish, but they eventually reach larger consumers as well — like human beings.
Even more alarming is that there is not a single bacteria in the environment today that is capable of completely biodegrading nurdles. Scientists have determined that since the invention of plastic, almost every piece of plastic that has ever been manufactured in the world still remains somewhere in the environment.
Hmm… it’s mind blowing to think that plastic never really goes away! When we recycle plastic, we may keep it out of our landfills, but most plastic can be recycled only once. Plastic can’t be remade into food-grade containers or bottles because of its tendency to hold on to pollutants. We do have cool things like fleece, carpet, and composite decking that come from recycled plastic, but recycling doesn’t reduce the amount of virgin plastic that continues to get manufactured in the world. The more plastic that is produced, the more nurdles we have entering our environment.
You may be wondering what this has to do with us mountain people, here in Summit County. We use plastic — plastic water bottles, plastic shopping bags, plastic take-out boxes… For every piece of plastic we use, there are thousands of nurdles produced to make that plastic. So, think about the nurdle next time you shop. Picture the nurdle to remind you to bring your own bag. And together, we can start to conquer the hurdles of the nurdles!
Eartha Steward is written by Carly Wier, Jennifer Santry, Heather Dodd Christie and Susie Nothnagel, consultants on all things eco and chic at the High Country
Conservation Center, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to waste reduction and resource conservation in our mountain community. Eartha believes that you can walk gently on our planet, even if you’re wearing stylish shoes. Submitquestions to Eartha at eartha @highcountryconservation. org or to High Country Conservation
Center, P.O. Box 4506, Frisco, CO 80443.
I decided to go on an Internet quest to find out about the mysterious nurdle. What I found was eye-opening, to say the least. I would say that the hurdles of the nurdles are right up there with the plastic-bag crises and the quandary of the Pacific Trash Vortex (a.k.a. the “Eastern Garbage Patch”). Sounds like some kind of Bermuda Triangle–Blair Witch Project story that folks tell each other around a campfire, huh?
Let’s start from the beginning…
A nurdle is actually a tiny pellet that industries use to mold into the plastics we know today, such as toys, storage containers, bottles and tubs. Nurdles are basically the raw materials of plastic production.
Smaller than a pea, nurdles come in an assortment of colors. As much as 60 billion pounds of nurdles are manufactured in the United Stated in one year.
Have you ever spilled a box of seeds in your backyard? Nurdles are about as light as a seed, and you can imagine the mess if a box or even a train full of nurdles spilled. Well, it has happened — and not only train-sized, but ship-sized containers of nurdles have leaked into our environment!
Nurdles are so light that they can travel by wind and currents, similar to specks of dust and sand. Today, you can find nurdles just about everywhere on the beach.
Scientists have studied handfuls of beach sand and found about 20 percent consisted of plastic, with an average of each handful containing around 30 nurdles.
Unfortunately, waterborne nurdles (termed “mermaid tears”) are toxic magnets for pollutants like DDT and PCBs. Once a nurdle sucks up these toxins, a single nurdle can become one million times more toxic than the surrounding water in which it floats.
Like plastic containers and bags, nurdles have the tendency to break down into smaller toxic bits through water and sun degradation. These plastic bits have even been known to grind themselves into a powdery substance that can go anywhere and be devoured by anything.
From nylon and polyester to polyvinyl chloride, scientists already have identified nine different kinds of plastics in the ocean. When nurdles become plastic powder, even the ocean’s smallest creatures like zooplankton eat the nurdles.
Thinking back to Marine Biology 101, zooplankton play an essential role in the aquatic food web. These tiny creatures may be gulped down by ocean fish, but they eventually reach larger consumers as well — like human beings.
Even more alarming is that there is not a single bacteria in the environment today that is capable of completely biodegrading nurdles. Scientists have determined that since the invention of plastic, almost every piece of plastic that has ever been manufactured in the world still remains somewhere in the environment.
Hmm… it’s mind blowing to think that plastic never really goes away! When we recycle plastic, we may keep it out of our landfills, but most plastic can be recycled only once. Plastic can’t be remade into food-grade containers or bottles because of its tendency to hold on to pollutants. We do have cool things like fleece, carpet, and composite decking that come from recycled plastic, but recycling doesn’t reduce the amount of virgin plastic that continues to get manufactured in the world. The more plastic that is produced, the more nurdles we have entering our environment.
You may be wondering what this has to do with us mountain people, here in Summit County. We use plastic — plastic water bottles, plastic shopping bags, plastic take-out boxes… For every piece of plastic we use, there are thousands of nurdles produced to make that plastic. So, think about the nurdle next time you shop. Picture the nurdle to remind you to bring your own bag. And together, we can start to conquer the hurdles of the nurdles!
Eartha Steward is written by Carly Wier, Jennifer Santry, Heather Dodd Christie and Susie Nothnagel, consultants on all things eco and chic at the High Country
Conservation Center, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to waste reduction and resource conservation in our mountain community. Eartha believes that you can walk gently on our planet, even if you’re wearing stylish shoes. Submitquestions to Eartha at eartha @highcountryconservation. org or to High Country Conservation
Center, P.O. Box 4506, Frisco, CO 80443.
