Microplastics From Kure Atoll Star In Flashy New Campaign

Many common skin care products add to the bombardment of microplastics in the ocean. A new German campaign seeks legislative support to rid them from store shelves.
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Microplastics collected from Kure Atoll feature prominently on the faces of prominent German citizens in a new campaign that draws awareness to the environmental toll of some skincare products.

The advocacy group behind the project, Ocean Now, is dedicated to the protection of the world’s oceans. Partnering with German artist Swaantje Güntzel, the group photographed the faces of German science journalists and climate activists covered with bits of microplastics collected by volunteers from beaches around the world — including the uninhabited northwestern Hawaiian Islands — to bring awareness to the harmful effects of microplastics used in cosmetics and skincare products, such as face scrubs, toothpaste and body wash.

Organizers hope the campaign will prompt politicians to implement stronger incentives to compel cosmetic companies to abstain from using liquid microplastics in their products.

A Berlin environmental group has teamed with a German artist to develop the campaign “In Your Face,” which rallies against the use of microplastics in cosmetics. Swaantje Güntzel Microplastics II, 2016 by Henriette Pogoda

Read more about the project here.

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