November 2025

Microplastics Equal a Macro-Problem

An article documenting a research project about microplastics in stormwater runoff in Springfield MO was published the Internationl Erosion Control Association’s News Center in July of 2024. We are highlighting the article since it provides data about microplastics in the area where we live.

To better understand the scope of microplastic pollution in stormwater runoff, the city of Springfield MO hired an environmental intern who spent six months reading literature, experimenting with testing methods and analyzing samples. Lab work was done at Drury University. The study determined that, on average, one liter of urban stormwater runoff contains millions of microplastic particles. The high-intensity parking lot, plastic recycling facility and artificial turf field averaged approximately eight million particles per liter, while the low-intensity parking lot averaged roughly half that value.

An important part of the study was to also evaluate the effectiveness of green infrastructure in removing microplastics from stormwater runoff.

Learn more about the research from the original article here.

Posted on 11/28/2025 by Gwen Morrison

Welcome to our Beyond Plastics Ozarks Website

Our small team met earlier this week and decided to form a local group of Beyond Plastics. Prior to this meeting, 3 of the team had attended the Beyond Plastics Grassroots Advocacy Training and 4 had attended a Show me less plastics workshop (Stream Teams United) offered in Springfield, Missouri. The resources available to us from these two organizations (Beyond Plastics (national) and Stream Teams United (Missouri)) will very useful as we initiate projects tailored to our local communities. 

Our team lives in the Springfield, Missouri area. We chose 'Ozarks' as part of our name since several of our team live outside Springfield/Greene County and realizing that there were no local groups or affiliates in southwestern Missouri or northwestern Arkansas. We will expand as interest develops anywhere in the Ozarks. 

Posted on 11/12/2025 by Gwen Morrison