They're little pieces of plastic smaller than a grain of sand.

And they're everywhere.

You might be swishing them around in your mouth or rubbing them in your face!

Yuck!

Microbeads are in lots of stuff, but they show up most in personal care products.

Face soap and body wash. Toothpaste.

You could even be filling in those smile lines with the plastic in "age-defying" makeup!

Companies put them in these products as exfoliants or just for texture, but there's no proof they even help!

And you might not realize that you're using them, unless you know what to look for.

But the biggest problem with microbeads is that they're designed to go down the drain.

They're so small most water treatment plants can't capture them...so billions are ending up in our waterways every day.

And even worse, these tiny bits of plastic act like sponges, soaking up the toxics around them.

So a single microbead can end up being a million times more toxic than the water around it.

Once in our waterways they get eaten by fish and other animals.

And could make their way right back to you in your sushi!

How's that for the circle of life!

So why do companies put these plastic microbeads in their products to begin with?

Well, for one, plastic's cheaper than the natural exfoliants we used to use.

Plus it's an excuse to sell more stuff!

Those natural exfoliants works so well you could only use them once a week!

Microbeads are smooth enough to use every day which means you run out quicker!

And have to buy more of that product.

Sure, we can try to avoid products with microbeads.

But isn't the bigger problem what companies put on the shelf in the first place?

The good news is some companies are already removing plastic microbeads from their products.

And many places are considering outright bans!

No matter where you live, there are ways to take action.

Come on! We don't need the beads!

Let's get them out of our stuff, out of our waterways, and out of our bodies.