The Globe & Mail recently highlighted climate innovation and PhD candidates Lauren Smith(SERS) and Nicole Balliston (GEM). The pair founded PolyGoneTech to protect waters from microplastics. Read their story on The Globe and Mail.
Nicole works in peatlands in northern Ontario and Lauren work's with gender equity in water innovation funding (and how it can improve environmental outcomes) - both were passionate enough about this problem to create a start-up for a solution!
Microplastics are <5mm in size in any one direction, and are found in drinking water sources across the world (from tap to bottled). They may come from the washing of synthetic textiles, the breakdown of other plastic materials, or mismanaged recycling. Microplastics may get smaller but take hundreds of years to fully degrade. Their small size makes them particularly difficult to remove, and challenging to quantify by traditional methods (very time consuming and needs expensive lab equipment).