The Glitter Dilemma

Hiya, Catriona here.

Today I’ve been thinking about glitter…

Did you know that even glitter that claims to be ‘biodegradable’ or ‘eco’ can negatively impact our water sources and water habitats? We didn’t!

A study found that both conventional plastic glitter and ‘biodegradable’ glitter impacted the growth of native species in freshwater, whilst ‘biodegradable’ glitter even encouraged the growth of invasive species. You can read more here.

Did you know that the manufacturing process for sequins results in millions of tiny pieces of plastic waste?

In 2019 Oxfam calculated that 1.7 million pieces of 2019's festive partywear would end up in landfill.

The article also shares that Viola Wohlgemuth, circular economy and toxics manager for Greenpeace Germany, says 40% of items produced by the clothing industry are never sold. Often clothing is dumped in landfills in other countries outside of the UK. You can read the whole article here.

What can we do?

HEISK love glitter! We love to dress in sequins and sparkles and put glitter on our faces. Can we do that sustainably and without a big climate impact?

Glitter – We’ve always used what we thought was ‘eco’ glitter. With a bit of research, the company we’ve mainly used seemed to be legitimate, but have now ceased trading.
From now on we’ll aim to use ‘Bioglitter™’ – they claim to have truly biodegradable glitter that biodegrades in water.

Sequins – We will continue to buy the majority of our clothes second hand, and when that’s not possible we’ll use ethical producers. This is a great way to find ethical clothing companies - https://directory.goodonyou.eco/

If anyone has suggestions about what to do with the glitter we already own, we’ll love to hear them! Do we use it since we already have it? Do we bin it? Bury it in a big hole? Let us know your thoughts!