Second Visit to Tres Rios

 Hey All-

Hope everyone is having a productive week! I can't believe the semester is almost over! 

I went back to the Tres Rios again to do a more research. A majority of trash that was collected was plastics and aluminum cans. There were quite a few people fishing nearby with coolers so it feels safe to assume the aluminum beer cans were brought in by people. As I've collected data and spent time at the river, I've began to see how its possible that trash isn't necessarily dumped in the river, but left near it and ends up making its way into the river. 

Most of the plastics are one time use plastic bottles that will eventually break down into smaller, microplastics through Ultraviolet light. These microplastics are roughly 5mm in length and become increasingly difficult to capture. Prevention is key!

Sample size of a microplastic:

Photo Credit: https://www.eco-business.com/opinion/microplastics-small-plastics-big-problem/