Why is Bio-degradable glitter important?

Why bio-glitter and what are we doing to pledge to be sustainably sparkly?

We all love to be a little bit extra now and then, especially at festivals, club nights, hen do’s, pride or maybe just a day out. A little bit of glitter wont hurt will it?

Or so you think…most traditional glitters are made from plastic. Plastic was invented in 1907 and can take anywhere between 20 and 500 years to break down, that means that most plastics ever created on earth are still on it, not to mention that plastics are made from chemicals found in fossil fuels, how much damage do you really want to cause with your glitter?

This is why we have always made sure that all of the glitter we use is bio-degradable. There are currently more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic are already floating in our oceans and it is predicted that there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish by 2050. We do not want to contribute to that with micro plastics.

A large amount of festivals pledged a few years ago to get rid of all single-use plastics at their events by 2021. That means no plastic cups, plastic straws and definitely no plastic glitter! Bio-degradable glitter is the future and we are more than happy that this is the case, especially with so many festivals taking place in rural or agricultural areas where the chemicals in standard glitter can pollute the ecosystems and create problems for animals. This is a problem that affects us too, polluting water, chemicals being absorbed by plants, ending up in the sea, seafood (if you eat it) and end up in us, passing through the food chain!

Biodegradable glitter is a form of glitter that is not made from plastic and will break down naturally, without causing harm to the environment allowing us to bring responsible sparkles to our customers and not leave a plastic footprint. We believe that any glitter that is being used in a manner where it will need to be washed off, should be biodegradable in nature.

What are we doing?

The biodegradable glitter we use is manufactured by Ronald Britton - Cosmetic Bioglitter®. It is made of a cellulose film from wood pulp of eucalyptus trees (from sustainability sourced plantations). Once in microbial environments like soil or seawater, microbial enzymes recognize the polymers in the bio-glitter and break down the compounds, leaving no trace.

At events we also sell small tins of glitter gels people can take with them. Our tins are aluminum and our gel is aloe-vera, kind to your skin as well as the planet.

Our glitter is also cosmetically certified, most craft glitters contain unregulated amounts of a nasty toxin called antimony - this is because they're not designed to be applied to skin and so don't need to comply with the same rules as cosmetic glitters. Our glitter is safe for your skin, and safe for the environment.

Bioglitter®, uses natural and plant-derived, polymer material as it’s basis that are proven to biodegrade in the natural environment, rather than polymers that do not biodegrade in the natural environment and contribute to microplastic pollution. All Bioglitter® products have been tested and PROVEN to biodegrade into harmless substances in the natural environment.

Bioglitter® replaces the core polyester film used in traditional glitter with a unique and special form of cellulose from hardwoods, primarily eucalyptus sourced from responsibly managed and certified plantations operating to PEFC™ www.pefc.org standards. This core in its own right possesses excellent eco-credentials, in it being biodegradable in all environments; certified industrial and home compostable, approved soil, wastewater, freshwater and marine biodegradable.

With this in mind you can count on us to make you sustainably sparkly and leave no trace!