This past Thursday, we had the opportunity to speak on a Local Water Matters panel, hosted by the Guelph Greens, home of Green Party of Ontario leader, Mike Schreiner. Residents, friends, and concerned citizens gathered to discuss local water problems and to present solutions and actions to resolve these issues. The evening opened with a gracious, indigenous water ceremony, recognizing the land we were on and the importance of water. We were able to hear from eco-travelling student entrepreneur, Emily DeSousa, Wellington Water Watchers executive director, Arlene Slocombe, and Concerned Residents Coalition president, Doug Tripp. We learned about Emily's efforts to travel sustainably and protect oceans, Arlene's work to conserve local water and what we can do to help, and Doug's coalition to prevent Hidden Quarry's development. There was a great turn out to this event, and we were thrilled to be invited to share knowledge of the microfibre problem and what we are doing to solve it. It really is inspiring to hear about the great work that is going on all around us! ![]() As an action item at this event, we launched our proposal for MER, a Microfibre Emission Rating, that will report on microfibre emissions for various appliances and clothing items. Similar to the EnerGuide rating system, MER ratings can help consumers understand how many microfibres are being released when they wash their clothes, and help hold businesses responsible for their emissions. We hope that this rating will help encourage businesses to adopt microfibre mitigation measures, as well as increase transparency on this issue. To develop this rating system, we are asking our governments for support. We also launched a petition for this rating system at the event last week. Let us know if you'd like to add your name, or find us at these upcoming events in Kitchener and Guelph to sign it in person. An online version is available here. Help us enforce microfibre emission ratings for transparency on this problem, to encourage microfibre mitigation technologies, and to help save everyone from eating their dirty laundry.
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Today is International Day of Women In Science. As an all female company working in science, we understand the importance of recognizing women working in spaces that are "non-traditional" or where there is unequal representation. We've both often been the only female in these environments, but we haven't let that deter or stop us from travelling this path. There is a lot to be said here, but we thought we'd keep it short and share some science-forward images from our day to day - in hopes these neat images might be inspiring or at very least interesting to other women considering science! When I first started using microscopes, I always found it so fascinating how different things could look up close, peering into another world. We talk a lot about microplastics and the microfibre problem - but what do they look like anyway? We took some time in the lab last week to snap up close photos of microfibres to share with you. We used our lab microscope and a digital camera attachment. It was super easy and they turned out great! In the higher magnification photos, you can see the colour of the fibres. I think they look a like little worms or bacteria - which seems fitting as I wouldn't want those in my water either! Have a look and let us know what you think they look like, or what you would want to see up close images of! Nicole's also been working on some really exciting developments to better show you what we're doing. Stay tuned to see what that is!
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AuthorLatest updates from our team. Follow along to see our progress towards bringing you the best in microfibre capture technology. Archives
July 2019
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