Microplastics In Your Garden

Is anyone talking about this? I want to focus on where you can find microplastics in gardening. Maybe even your own! Microplastics are NOT something we want to add to our garden, but it is something we will have to continue to cope with as we continue to use plastic because in turn these broken-down particles have made it into every aspect of our lives, including your garden.

Garden with Remnants of Microplastics

Where do microplastics come from?

Simple, the products YOU buy! They are already in your every-day life.

Well, when you see labels on items you buy.. look for these: PFAS, PET(Polyethylene terephthalate) think of water bottles, PCL(Polycaprolactone) Implantable bio-medical plastics or sold as beads to hobbyists, PP(Polypropylene) mechanical and structural applications, PLA, PVC(Polyvinyl chloride), PBAT, PBS, PHB, PLA, PE, PS (Polystyrene).

What are all these microplastics? Well let's use PVC as an example since most of us should know what PVC piping is, we use in in our home sewage systems. You know what else PVC can be used for? Food Packaging! See the trend here? Microplastics are being released everywhere. Heck, yesterday when drilling holes into the garden I was finding chunks of our own plastic trash, along with an old bag of Miracle-Gro (yes, not the best soil) with I'll be darned... PLASTIC BAG remnants inside the packed soil.

Microplastics In the Garden

Some fun, or "not-so-fun" facts about microplastics:

1. They are in almost everything in your garden

   1. Water

      1. Bottled Water

      2. City Water / Tap Water

   2. Garden Soil

   3. Weed block

   4. Plastic Garden Trays

   5. Cardboard Boxes

   6. Controlled Release Fertilizers (polymer-coated)

   7. Food / Compost

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So, what does this mean for your garden?

Your soil will most-likely overtime be introduced to small amounts of nano and micro-plastics.

1. What are the health effects of this?

   1. The world is currently studying microplastics in the body, and odds are you already have thousands of nano-particles floating around in your blood stream.

   2. The bottom line, they don't know yet.

      1. What they do know is it can cause oxidative stress, neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, carcinogenicity, altered metabolism.

         
         
   
   

So, when my spouse jokingly said to me "Well, I am glad we are not planning on having any more kids" he was correct.. as we were burning holes into our plastic weed block this past weekend... the particles were flying.

1. What can I do to prevent microplastics in the garden?

   1. The problem with this question is; YOU as a consumer do not know how your consumer products are produced, so it is hard to know whether you have lower or higher amounts of plastics in your "goods".

   2. Does this raise ethical concerns about commercial processing? It should be. How are current farmers reducing microplastics? The short answer, they aren't.

      
      

2. How Can I Personally Prevent Microplastics?

   1. Use organic materials with no plastic

Plastic	Organic Alternative	Example
Weed Block	Carboard Boxes	Glue / Tape Removed, no glossy or ink.
Store Bought Fertilizers	Organic Compost	Food Leftovers in a compost bin
Garden Soil	Make your own with individual components	LOCAL: Sand, Soil, perlite, peat moss, silt, clay, cow manure from local farm.
Plastic Seed Starter Trays	Use the Blocking Technique	Awesome contraption that blocks your seedlings with no plastic involved (underneath water tray - plastic)
Water	Filters	Reverse Osmosis, Ceramic Filters, Carbon Filters

I hope if anything you received a tiny lesson on microplastics today and why they are such a problem everywhere. You can see why it is an important discussion topic when it comes to gardening or industrial farming. All we can do is reduce exposure and educate ourselves as studies come out over the years.

I am not promoting my garden experiment as the way to go, but the weed block and items I used to create this magnificent mess are listed here:

Weed Block	https://amzn.to/3S0lH3j
Weed Block Staples	https://amzn.to/4cEyNN8
Blow Torch	Bernzomatic Soldering Propane Torch Kit (14.1-oz) 361546 at Lowes.com
Auger / Drill Bit	Power Planter USA 28-in x 4-in Welded Steel Bulb Auger with 1/2-in Hex Drive 428H at Lowes.com
Soil Mix	Sand / Backyard Dirt / Organic Compost
Grow Bags	https://amzn.to/44A7kKv
Water	Rain Barrel / Water Off Roof - hose attachment filter: https://amzn.to/4jNbuDt
Plastic Seed trays	https://amzn.to/3YFKNIs

DIY With Chelsea's Garden

Thoughts? Comments? Leave them below.

~ DIY With Chelsea

4.22.2025