The UK government has banned ocean-polluting microbeads!

Microbeads are tiny pieces of plastic that are found in products ranging from toothpastes to face scrubs. They go down the plughole and end up in our oceans and waterways, where they can be mistaken for food by fish.
 
When this campaign started back in January 2016 by Greenpeace, hardly anyone had heard of microbeads (including me!)
 
But these tiny plastic polluters became a massive issue. Over 385,000 people signed Greenpeace UK's biggest petition yet, calling for the UK government to ban microbeads. Thousands emailed MPs, posted on social media and shared ideas for microbead alternatives.
 
Microbeads went from being virtually unknown, to being talked about by everyone from government ministers to celebrities - they even made it onto the front pages of national newspapers!
  
Hundreds of thousands of us came together, alongside organisations like the Marine Conservation Society, Fauna and Flora International and the Environmental Investigations Agency, to make real change happen.
 
The UK government's ban is the strongest in the world to date. It's not yet perfect, but crucially the government have left the door open to broaden the ban in future - and Greenpeace will be keeping a close eye on them to make sure this happens!
  
There are still many threats facing our oceans - from climate change to overfishing to plastic bottles - but with petitions like these we can take action to protect our precious oceans for years to come.