Schools banning glitter

[SimultaneousEquation]

AIBU to think that schools banning glitter for environmental reasons are sensible and responsible and not killjoys?

I hadn’t realised that glitter was micro plastic until relatively recently and I now wish I’d never bought it for my own kids. AIBU to think schools should ditch the glitter?

Just get the class to watch Blue Planet 2 (tonight was all about plastic and the effect of pollution) and that's all a school needs to do. The childen won't want to use glitter again.

YANBU (anyways it sticks to everything and is difficult clean should be reason enough!)

I think it’s sensible. Parents can still use it at home (until it and other plastics are more tightly controlled) but not using it in school and playgroup settings etc would cut down on the amount used. I think parents want it used in schools so they don’t have to have it in heir own homes refusing to disappear for decades on ends after you’ve used it.

They're not banning all glitter (or at least the preschool whose ban made it to the news last week isn't)

They are banning the sort which damages the environment, and instead using one which doesn't (and is just as sparkly)

I agree. I had no idea how environmentally unfriendly glitter is until last week. Now this information is public knowledge, I think schools should be phasing out glitter.

And while we're at it, how about banning expanded polystyrene beads used in packaging? They were on a beach I visited over the summer - thousands of them along the shore line, as far as I could walk. They are so hard to pick up (I tried) because they stick to the hands or blow away in the breeze. It was depressing thinking that most of them, or fragments of them, will still be bobbing about on the waves long after anyone reading this now has died. Except of coursevfor the beads that are eaten by fish and so pass into the food chain.

Good move.

What's the environmentally friendly glitter?

I also did not know this.

It's dreadful stuff; I've always hated it. It gets everywhere.

Completely agree, plastics are such an issue. There's many campaigns against selling plastic straws or cotton buds with plastic necks which I think some supermarkets are agreeing with now. Microbeads in cosmetics are being phased out fairly quickly after the massive backlash. Glitter's next. It's not necessary. I think Lush uses glitter made of seaweed that decomposes entirely and quickly, is that the next step?

Agreed - I'm a bit embarrassed to think it had never occurred to me that glitter is indeed tiny bits of plastic, and the impact that has on the environment.

Ditto drinking straws - am making a concerted effort not to use them.

This is what Lush say about their glitter, though I'm a little sceptical that just because it's natural it means it's totally safe and good for the environment. Still probably better than all the plastics though

uk.lush.com/article/all-glitters

good that it makes people realise that plastics are not just the obvious packaging stuff.

This news report about plastic waste is awful.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-41866046/the-giant-mass-of-plastic-waste-taking-over-the-caribbean

I think this is a ridiculous red herring (unintentional pun). A recent report found that 95% of the world's plastic pollution in the seas comes from just 10 rivers, 8 of which are in Asia. None of them are in Europe. If we want to actually make a difference to plastic polluting the oceans we need to help these countries with their waste management.

www.wastefreeoceans.org/single-post/2017/10/19/WFO-offers-to-tackle-floating-debris-in-rivers

As a teacher, glitter is a fucking pain in the arse and I'd happily wave goodbye

I agree with it. It's these silly little things we never realise we're actually doing a lot of harm. Remember when it was okay to flush our sanpro? Drop cigarette ends everywhere?
It wasn't until I read on FB recently that people are trying to get plastic drinking straws banned and yes, it totally makes sense why! I've stopped allowing my children to use straws unless necessary now.

They should use edible glitter -

Makes sense to me.

Saw on the news this week that a sample of tiny creatures taken from the bottom of the Mariana Trench (? deepest part of the Pacific Ocean) was dissected to see if any of them had any traces of plastic. Every single animal had ingested plastic fibres.

www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/synthetic-fluorophlogopite

The "friendly" glitter sounds hair-raising!

There is only one truly biodegradable and ethical glitter company in the world, and it's in Rochdale.
I can dig out the suppliers' details if anyone wants it - they have a Bristol based distributor.

The glitter they use has a cellulose base, made from eucalyptus trees in Spain.

Other biodegradable glitter companies use mica, which is naturally occurring but which is unfortunately mined using child labour. In fact the country where this happens has just changed their child labour law to make the practice legal.

Nice.

Mica is also used in make-up.

Yes all powder makeup has either a mica or a talc base. I'll have a look for the article about mica mining.

amp.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/jul/28/cosmetics-companies-mica-child-labour-beauty-industry-india-

"If we want to actually make a difference to plastic polluting the oceans we need to help these countries with their waste management."

It's not either/or. We can - and I think should - reduce our impact on the planet, and we can help other countries as well.