At a glance, Michigan’s lakes, rivers, and streams look healthy. However, a quirk of human psychology is such that while obvious signs of pollution, like the 2010 Enbridge oil spill in the Kalamazoo River, usually lead to mass mobilization, equally ominous pollution threats that can’t be seen with the naked eye tend to go unnoticed.

And that nearly invisible ominous pollution threat is microplastic. According to The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, approximately 22 million pounds of plastic debris enter the Great Lakes every year, plastics that break down into tiny pollutants that are now present literally everywhere.

This week's Northern Express, sister publication of The Ticker, looks at the science behind microplastics, where they're being found locally, and science-based solutions for addressing the problem - plus ways individuals can reduce their own plastic pollution output. 

The Northern Express is available to read online, or pick up a free copy on newsstands at more than 650 locations in 13 counties across northern Michigan.