We found another great reason to make your own personal care products! You know those face and body washes that contain microbeads that make the product look pretty and help slough off dead skin? Well it turns out that those microbeads are bad news bears for our water supply:

Over the past decade, face washes and other skin care products have become laden with the beads. Manufacturers tout the balls’ ability to slough away dead skin and, in a direct appeal to our vanity, reveal a youthful-looking appearance. (An exfoliating paste made of baking soda doesn’t make cosmetics companies much money, you see.) The balls are too small to be filtered by waste treatment plants, so they’re poisoning our water and being ingested by marine life. That means they have to go.

Illinois has already banned the distribution and use of products containing microbeads and New York may follow suit shortly. But even if these products aren’t being banned in your area, you may want to stop using them anyway. Not only will you be doing your part to save the environment; you’ll also be saving money by using homemade exfoliating options!

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Read more over at Take Part.