In June 2019, Freya Radford and Mhairi Miller, two CDT-SIS students, attended Glastonbury Festival to promote their current research into microplastics. They engaged with the public in the Green Futures Tent, part of the Green Fields area, about the underrepresented problem of microplastics in soil.
Microplastics can enter soils through sewage sludge from wastewater treatment which may contain plastic fibres from clothing and particles from cosmetics. The research at Southampton is quantifying this problem through soil sampling in the Hampshire area. This year the festival banned sales of plastic bottles and focused heavily on the plastic waste problem and 99.3% of tents were taken home. Make sure you look out for us at future events!
