In 2023, 221 shipping containers were lost at sea, out of a total of 250 million shipped. That's a loss rate of 0.000088%.<p>Plastic pellets are a visible pollutant on beaches. I have not seen any evidence that they're a particularly harmful pollutant. A single 20 tonne containerload of plastic pellets can leave a visible residue on hundreds or thousands of beaches, but the 15 tonnes of CO2 emitted by the average American <i>every year</i> is entirely invisible.<p><a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ff6c5336c885a268148bdcc/t/66828a26c1ec3a2fca7fd299/1719831078480/CCC+10-11-1+-+Estimate+of+containers+lost+at+sea+-+2024+update+%28World+Shipping+Council+%28W...%29%5B4%5D.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ff6c5336c885a268148b...</a>
There's a similar UK initiative which has spread to a number of other countries.<p>Nurdles are everywhere... <a href="https://www.nurdlehunt.org.uk/nurdle-finds.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nurdlehunt.org.uk/nurdle-finds.html</a>
Wow, Texas seems to be one of the worst offenders here. How do you collect close to 1000 nurdles in 10 minutes? Do people wade through them on the beach?
Imagine a beach completely consisting of nurdles. Imagine an ecosystem of bacteria, microorganisms, fish and other seafood creatures adapted to living on it. I feel like as humanity we could totally reach a point where evolution to that kind of ecosystem becomes the only choice. Same for our immune, digestive and lymph system. We could end up at a point where most of life NEEDS microplastic to survive! Then we can finally stop caring about micro plastics and start loving them instead.<p>I for one love nurdles!