Imagine a summer stroll beside Lake Superior. You grab a handful of sand, and as it runs through your fingers, you see something red that feels unlike the sand grains. Not sure what you saw, you grab another handful and let it slowly sift through your fingers, watching carefully as each grain falls to the beach below. As the sand stops pouring, small pieces of multicolored plastic remain in your hand.

Unfortunately, this scenario is all too real throughout Michigan and the Great Lakes. Plastics are found from the most remote to the most urban areas of the state. Plastic does not break down easily in the environment. When it does, it merely crumbles into smaller pieces called microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics. Microplastics also can be released during manufacturing (for example, “nurdles,” microbeads, or plastic in wastewater) or the use of plastic products (such as synthetic clothing and vehicle tires).

In one high-profile incident near Saugatuck on Jan. 27, 2026, a semitrailer that ran off the expressway during a winter storm spilled tons of white polystyrene nurdles along the roadway and wetlands along the Kalamazoo River (fortunately, few entered the river). Crews were able to recover much of the material after thawing snow and ice revealed the extent of the spill.

Microplastics are found in surface waters across Michigan including rivers and streams, inland lakes, and the Great Lakes as well as in flora and fauna across the Great Lakes including mussels, birds, fish, and algae.