Another reason to hate glitter — it damages river ecosystems

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/15/another-reason-to-hate-glitter-it-damages-river-ecosystems.html

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Glitter is the herpes of craft supplies.

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Whomever figures out how to make cheap bioplastics out of discarded shellfish parts is going to be the world’s first trillionaire.

I have a kid who loves all things sparkly and glittery. I’ve banned that shit from our house. It’s evil.

(However, a couple people in my area had a problem with asshats stealing their Biden/Harris yard signs, so they enhanced the edges with vaseline and glitter to discourage that.)

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This is a warning sign that there may be something wrong with the research. It would be a remarkable coincidence if three so different substances had almost exactly the same effect. That they all cause damage, sure, but the sama amount to damage?

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We get fewer Xmas cards every year (this year may see a reversal of the trend) but a higher percentage each year has loosely attached glitter that we are picking out of the rugs for months afterwards. I’m getting so I peek inside the envelope, and if there is glitter I don’t even remove the card.

The yard sign stratagem is brilliant, though.

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It could be the very thin, presumably chemically-reactive aluminium that is causing the problem rather than the backing. So running the experiment again with controls of the same substrate but without aluminium alongside the glitter products would be in order.

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Glitter in soap and other bathroom products - WHY?

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So you DON’T want fish that are fabulous?

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Much better than the razor blade option.

Yes, much better: cuts from razor blades will heal. Glitter will be around forever. A stray twinkle of cheerful color when they open their SUV cargo area. A little unexpected sparkle on the dead deer they pull out of their truck bed at the processor. A little side eye from fellow tailgaters at next year’s game day. An intermittent ongoing reminder of the night they stole that Biden sign.

(choose your own sarcasm level)

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Some consider this overkill(a position I deem absurd to reason and dangerous to faith); but the same negative-pressure cabinets that are ideal for controlling various nuisance dusts(and toxins and pathogens, if you either trust your DIY more than I do or buy from real suppliers) can be used to mitigate the risk of opening glitter-laced cards.

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Shouldn’t the chlorophyll be in the plants. I don’t think it does much in the water.

I have a friend who has a couple of AirBNBs in a town that’s often a getaway for Bachelorette Weekends. She attaches a $500 cleanup rider if she finds glitter.

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