Glitter gets everywhere, doesn’t it? First off, you’re daubing your face with glitter for a fun night out, next it’s on all the wrapping paper for all the presents you’re giving this Christmas, then it practically sponsors you at a festival, getting into every unwashed nook and cranny, wedging itself into your hair for months.
Well, someone is putting a stop to the tyranny of glitter in all its bright shiny mess, because at one chain of nurseries, where many a glitter aficionado’s habit begins, the substance is being banned. Top Days Nurseries, which runs a bunch of nurseries in the south of England, is banning glitter on basis that if these micro plastics get everywhere on us, they’re getting everywhere in the environment too.
Cheryl Hadland, who’s managing director of the nurseries, took a course in sustainable leadership and saw the light.
‘Glitter is a microplastic, just like microbeads, which are to be banned in the UK. They are virtually impossible to remove from the environment once there. When we’ve finished using plastic glitter for play, decorating a card or sprinkling it into playdough it goes into a bin or into the sink.’
And she’s not alone in this quest to stop glitter from destroying the delicate ecosystem of our oceans, as Sue Learner, from daynurseries.co.uk also told The Times: ‘We can only hope that by Cheryl Hadland raising awareness of the damage that glitter can cause, other nursery owners and managers may be prompted to think about what decorative materials are being given to children and the potential impact it has on the environment.’
Now, if young kids can learn that glitter isn’t right for the world, its short-term manufactured beauty literally destroying long term beauty that is mother nature, surely us adults can?
Alternatives to glitter include face-paint and ’not glitter’, so it really is a win-win situation.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.