Bad news for drag queens and glitter gun aficionados everywhere. Glitter isn’t just the most annoying substance on earth, it’s also toxic for the environment.
Forget K-Cups and microbead body wash, glitter is in the crosshairs of British environmentalists and they’re taking action. The fashion accessory and craft supply has been banned from pre-schools.
Why? The substance is usually made of small bits of plastic that are clogging up the oceans and landfills and, like those pesky microbeads, get eaten by small animals. Since these little bits of sparkly plastic attract critters who would eat them (but provide no nutritional value), every time you don glittery eye shadow or let your kid decorate their handmade Christmas cards with it, you’re killing a small critter and contributing to worldwide pollution.
“We all know that glitter can get everywhere and is highly likely to end up in the environment, either down the drain or by shedding from decorative items,” Alice Horton, a research associate at the UK’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology told the Guardian. “So I think there’s no harm in banning it from nurseries for craft purposes given that its only purpose is ornamental.”
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Now, how are we gonna pry that glitter gun out of every drag queen’s crafty little hands?