Wednesday, December 04, 2019
Scientists Are Pushing to Ban Glitter, Say It's a 'Global Hazard'
Parents: All crafting enthusiasts and makeup gurus know there is a price to pay when using glitter. Yes, it is dazzling and theatrical but with one use, comes lots of damage control—expect an impossible-to-clean mess in any inconvenient crevice. So what does that chaos mean on a larger scale? Microplastics—the essence of glitter which consists of small pieces plastic are making headlines as scientist warns of the environmental dangers they present.
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So this to me is really good news because I HATE glitter for a number of reasons initially it was just because of the mess it makes as well as its inability to ever be completely gone but the added environmental impact is an important one. I have actually done a project on micro plastics before and their danger comes largely in a mostly unseen form, I don’t think this was really highlighted in the article. So most of the “micro-plastics” as suggested in the name go almost unseen to the human eye the problem becomes when the lowest members of the food chain (algae eaters) are consuming these plastics mistaking them for their actual food source. They way they make it into the food were eating is by the predators that are eating them (or eating something that consumes them). So it is through that process that allows for micro plastics to be present in the swordfish someone is eating, not through direct ingestion but by making it’s way up through the food chain. I’d be really interested in seeing the eco versions in person to see how they compare because I think that finding alternatives is crucial to implementing solutions.
I agree with Lauren – thank goodness for the potential abolishment of the never disappearing symptom of reckless arts and crafts. Sure, glitter can add some pizzazz to a project, but the never ending appearance of the product after its use is insufferable. It is interesting to me that this article sites EIC saying the the problem is how we do not view plastic as a standard recyclable like glass or metal – society still views plastic products as disposable. I think part of this mindset comes from both the sheer amount that plastic comes up in ur day to day lives, and because of the complexities presented with recycling plastics. Plastics tend to be sorted by type at recycling centers, and if you look closely at the recycling bins on campus, we only recycle types 1-5, despite #6 being common in take out dish ware and containers. I think that the world of biodegradable bioplastics are where industry needs to start migrating too. Bioplastics are becoming popular in the world of art and environmental design/architecture, but the process needs to be developed for mass production.
I am always intrigued when articles claim about banning articles items such as plastic straws to save sea turtles or other fade green movements because I’ve seen many scientists and zoologists talk/write about how stopping straws isn’t the biggest problem facing sea turtles and it is just clickbait hype. Though I understand that plastic straws aren’t good, social media made them a much bigger deal than they are so I was very interested to read this article. Though this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a ban glitter article is the first time I’ve read a ban glitter article. I agree with Katie and Lauren’s point about how horrible the substance is to clean up and to anyone who says a show must go on with glitter can talk to me about using cut up scrap paper, which is something I’ve used for quite a few shows. From reading the article, I am a little disgusted to find out that the same microplastics in glitter are in toothpaste and wonder if they make microplastic free toothpaste because I would hate to be putting such a horrible toxin in my system. After reading this article I am about to go home and look at all the products I use to make sure there are no microplastics in the stuff I use. Overall, this article made unsurprising claims and hopefully, the US follows in the UK’s footsteps of a microplastic ban. One thing that I think might hinder us from the importation of so many products and I wonder how trade will be affected by a complete microplastic ban.
Every couple of years, there is a resurgence in articles about how bad glitter is. Every couple of years, swaths of people swear off it permanently. And yet, it is still ubiquitous in the performing arts world. Eco-glitter has been around for a long time, but it appears to be seldom used. As a technician who used to work ballet school shows, I would be glad to support a ban of the persistent sparkly stuff, even if it had a positive environmental impact. If scientists were to develop a sparkly spore that plants trees when it sloughs off, I would still be against it. That said, there are so many people who adore glitter that I can imagine a future in which it is traded on the black market and used in secret underground clubs. In any case, I think that we are well past the point where we need a global ban on plastic glitter. We have a viable substitute.
I think everybody in the school has a story about how their lives were ruined by glitter. Mine came when j was the job lead for the Dutchman, a senior thesis show in the rauh. The scenic designer had just finished painting a large drop and had started painting the deck, and one day we came on to find the entire place sprinkled with glitter. It somehow had even gotten into the painted drop! We literally had to get on our hands and knees with lint rollers to lift that stuff off the stage. It's actually incomprehensible whoever thought it would be acceptable to sprinkle horrible fairy dust across a theater space like that and to this day I want thrash the insane people who did it. All that being said, I think glitter is actually probably a drop in the bucket in terms of total microplastics being produced across the world. This sounds like it's the industry trying to place the blame on the consumer, rather than on the industry's bad practices.
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