..to mention avoiding glitter again - especially if you love The Blue Planet

[kinkajoukid]

Just to raise awareness of this topic again. Please think about avoiding glitter and so reduce the terrible damage that humans are doing to the planet, oceans and our food chain.

Its pretty and sparkly yes, but so damaging. Lets not hasten our own demise... we have Kim Jong Un and Trump for that!

Ive just read a few articles online about it and one line they keri using is that 8 million tonnes a day is being washed into our oceans.

Surely that's a mistake?
8 MILLION TONNES A DAY!?!?!

Bump

Oh NO!!! I love glitter!!!
Thanks for pointing it out though. Makes sense really. Still sad though.

and say not to.... TINSEL!!! shock back to lovely paper chains, snowflakes cut out from folded toilet roll and a few bits home made from aluminium that can be recycled.

OK, I was totally with you on the avoiding glitter in reindeer food and love the RSPCA article linked upthread about making reindeer cookies or mix instead to sprinkle from them, but tinsel?!
Nooooo. I love my tinsel. You'll have a fight on your hands taking that off me!
What's the problem with tinsel then? Is it because it doesn't break down in landfill or something? (Just a wild guess, could be completely wrong so don't quote me on that!)

I didnt know this, I love glitter, love the sea more, thank you for sharing OP

So lovely to see so many people prepared to give up glitter :) I think we will get used to not having it, but it would be a very sad world if we have to give up fish and penguins. Not to mention the beautiful coral reefs that support so much life.

Glitter gets everywhere as barbara says and we all know!! Bras, hair, noses!! So it is easy for it to end up in the water system. But it is also damaging in the soil for invertebrates and for the chemicals it leaches.

As for tinsel, its great to keep what you have got but it is made from PVC (a terribly polluting substance in its own right and a known carcinogen and containing phthalates) but it also cannot be recycled, so it would end up in landfill, slowly leaching its chemicals into the soil and water.

[https://www.recyclenow.com/what-to-do-with/christmas-decorations-1]

12.5 million metres of tinsel is made/sold every year... [http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-38394661/how-is-tinsel-made]

I think we have got used to just binning it if we fancy changing our colour scheme and not thinking about the consequences :(

But I do think that we could easily get used to becoming more eco friendly at Christmas - whether you think of it as the birth of Jesus, a celebration of winter and the coming spring, or as a happy holiday for family and children, it doesn't really make any sense to make it a polluting and toxic experience.

Bring on the fir tree sprigs!!

Oops, clicky links!!

www.recyclenow.com/what-to-do-with/christmas-decorations-1

www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-38394661/how-is-tinsel-made

Thanks fir the clicky links.

Fleece clothing is also a problem as it sheds plastic fibres right into the water system.

I knew about the microbeads and boycotted them but didn't know about glitter. Makes sense though. No glitter here from now on and no tinsel either. I hate bastard tinsel and every year have an argument with dp because he likes it. He's hugely into conservation though ( sea especially- surfer) so i think he'll get on board. Thanks OP! You've solved the bastard tinsel dilemma in this household!

Wow - thank you so much you lovely people :)

I'm feeling a bit down at the moment for various reasons, so I inspired by the eco thread the other day, I thought I would try to do something to try to make a difference and its great to find lots of support out there!

BlueEmerald Re what do do with existing glitter, I think perhaps for now it is best left in its box in the loft or something. One day we might have a better solution for dealing with it. I think it sometimes gets incinerated but that can also be polluting so is not a perfect solution. Fingers crossed we work out what to do with all this plastic before it kills us!!

I was wondering if a Christmas jumble sale or swap shop would be a good idea? So if anyone did fancy a change of colours scheme then the old tinsel and decorations could be swapped or sold for little bit of money - much better than going into landfill.

I'm not in a position to organise one myself, but I might email a local church or group with the idea. It could be fun I think!!

Another shock, fleece clothing

Most things you throw in the bin end up in landfill. This is outside, so when it rains all sorts are washed out in to water courses. Including glitter.

I think people may be under the impression that throwing things away takes them out of the ecosystem. It doesn't.

There is no such thing as 'throwing away'. There is no 'away'.

Feel so bad because I had already bought some tea lights with glitter on. But I promise not to buy anything else with glitter on.

Our rubbish goes to an incinerator to generate electricity rather than landfill, but I take the point about it getting everywhere, you wash the floor and lo, it's in the water system.

I hate tinsel anyway so don't buy that.

I posted the other day about my DH buying Xmas cards we didn't need. They've got glitter too. It's everywhere!

I decided to stop buying tea lights because of the foil, and will look for proper candles.

Hi OP,

Any links to resources that you can share please?
I am thinking of sending some info with my DD to share with her classmates (y2). They have an Eco-club sort of thing and its a great topic to raise with glitter loving kids and drive home a message.

hi houserefurb Sorry, I couldn't find anything that was particularly aimed at children, just general news reports.

This article from the Independent is quite easy to read though. You might be able to snip some sentences/bits from it to print out. And the photographs are of plastic litter on the beach etc so easily communicate the message even to little ones. Its great that they have an Eco club :)

www.independent.co.uk/environment/glitter-ban-environment-microbead-impact-microplastics-scientists-warning-deep-ocean-a8056196.html

The gallery of plastic pollution in the Caribbean is a bit sickening - so many plastic knives and forks and bottles :(

There's a few other links that might of interest too - including a story about an otter with a tie wrap round its neck! :( I think it might have been captured and freed though.

Before plastic, unless it was metal most things were made of wool/ cotton flax, or pottery, wood, stone and so rubbish could just be buried in the ground without much of a thought like we've done for millennia. Its good that we are at last starting to realise that we just cant do that any more.

hope those links help :)

Check out www.glistencosmetics.com for some great info on biodegradable glitters :)