It seems there are people worried or sorry because from Sunday it will be forbidden to sell and buy glitter. Those that are used to make a greeting card shine, but more often the face of a person or a dress on the wedding day or even just to go dancing one evening. The ones that make us all feel like Barbie and Ken.
They were banned by a European Union decision that comes into force on October 15. They were banned not because those in Brussels are evil and envious of our parties but because they are bad (indeed, very bad) for the environment. Glitter is among the most common and widespread microplastics: in fact it is a composition of a common microplastic such as PET or PVC and aluminum which once ended up in our exhaust pipes takes hundreds of years to degrade and in the meantime it pollutes lakes, rivers, seas, ends up in algae and fish which then in turn end up on our tables.
Calculations say that the average person ingests approximately 200 thousand microplastic particles per year. But perhaps it is clearer if we say that it is 5 grams per week, the equivalent of a bottle cap, or a bowl full of cereals every 6 months. Not all microplastics are glitter, but glitter is an important part of it. And it’s bad for us and the environment.
This move is part of a broader strategy to combat not the use of plastic, which is fundamental, but its abuse, given the environmental impact it has: I remember the ban on using plastic bags, which did not cause the end of the world as many feared (nor of spending); and that of disposable plastic straws, which did not spell the end of aperitifs.
Even the end of the glitter it won’t mark the end of the holidays and fun. But the beginning, perhaps, of less polluted seas.