wittysister1901The problem: Plastic Pollution. The solution: Mealworms. Yeah, I’m talking about those tiny, yellow creatures that are often bought in bulk as bait, or used for fishing. Mealworms are valued in the wild, in every single stage of their life. The poor things never catch a break. From the minute they are born to the second they die, they are hunted and used as food. Mealworms are thought to be pretty unimportant for humans, but these little guys can actually solve a problem that stumped people for decades!
Let’s talk about mealworms first. Mealworms are the larvae version of Mealworm Beetles. Mealworms usually believe in safety in numbers, so you might see up to a thousand mealworms in one spot. Judging their size, you might not believe that they can eat bugs that are even larger than them. That is, when they are dead. They’re only 1.8 cm. Mealworms are actually sold in fishing stores and some grocery stores around the world. Now, you might be wondering, why grocery stores? Well, let’s just say that while some people think they are gross, others think them as food. Mealworm burger anyone? How about soup? Humans aren’t the only ones who find these guys delicious. Reptiles like lizards find them as feasts too. When the female mealworm lays her eggs, which can be anywhere from 300- 500 eggs in her whole lifetime, Reptiles will note exactly where. For the next 19 days, they’ll lurk around, waiting for the eggs to hatch. Once they do, it’s mealtime! This is why mealworms have to be very careful about where they hide their eggs. But the poor mealworms have one more place where they could land. And it’s the worst one of them all. Inside the 3rd grade classroom. I don’t know about you, but in third grade we had to take care of mealworms. Everyday, a whole bunch of little kids would get ready to touch, hold, and even fling the mealworms. After they were done getting played with, we would feed them way too much food, and then continue this process for the rest of the week. After they were done being tortured they were ready to be let out. Well, the ones that survived. So yeah, mealworms have a pretty tough life. But, they finally have found a purpose. Something that finally isn’t eating them, but eating our world. Plastic. Plastic has been a problem for a really long time and is slowly taking over the world. A lot of plastic contains a dangerous chemical, called HBCD. HBCD is toxic, and its purpose is to reduce flammability. HBCD is so toxic, that the EU has plans to ban it! A Scientist decided to take a chance on these guys because they literally can eat anything. The mealworms were thrown in a container of tiny pieces of plastic with HBCD in it. Overnight, they had wiped the whole bin clean! This bin contained 39 milligrams of plastic. That’s like 39 drops of water, which might not sound like much, but with the amount of mealworm we have, it all adds up. Now, the real question was, can these mealworms go back to their suffering- I mean purpose, which is to fill the stomach of other organisms? The answer is yes! Mealworms can still be fed to other animals without causing them any problems. This is all thanks to the mealworm’s powerful gut, which can break down almost anything! Thanks to these little guys, we might actually have a chance at eliminating a lot of the plastic waste from the world!
We should never judge any creature by its size, because everything has a purpose. Before this research, mealworms were just another worm. But now, they are THE worm everyone has their hopes in. So the next time you see a mealworm, just know that they can do a lot more than be in a burger or at the bottom of a pig’s belly. They can save the world!
