Vegan Glitter Is Here and Now We're Never Going to Be Rid Of It
Instead of vanquishing glitter, scientists just made it biodegradable. Thanks?
By Andrew Liszewski
“The photograph shows three vials containing an ensemble of photonic CNC particles dispersed in three different solvents: water, water: ethanol and ethanol. The particles are the same in the three vials, the colour difference between the three vials results from the ability of water to swell the structure of the particles. Higher water content means greater swelling of the cholesteric structures and a redshift of the colour of the particles.”
Glitter is an environmental disaster. So scientists invented an eco-friendly versionInstead of vanquishing glitter, scientists just made it biodegradable. Thanks?
By Andrew Liszewski
“The photograph shows three vials containing an ensemble of photonic CNC particles dispersed in three different solvents: water, water: ethanol and ethanol. The particles are the same in the three vials, the colour difference between the three vials results from the ability of water to swell the structure of the particles. Higher water content means greater swelling of the cholesteric structures and a redshift of the colour of the particles.”
Photo: Benjamin Droguet
The only thing worse than getting a year older on your birthday is opening a card to find someone has hi-lariously pranked you with a mountain of glitter. It’s not only annoying, the stuff is bad for the planet—or at least it was. Researchers from the University of Cambridge have created a non-toxic vegan glitter alternative that ensures those shiny little particles aren’t going anywhere.
We now know that the thousands of tons of microplastics used in products like cosmetics and face-scrubbing soaps are especially bad for the environment, but not before the tiny non-biodegradable particles found their way into our oceans, our national parks, and even plants. It’s a serious pollutant we may never be able to clean up at this point, but we can work toward completely eliminating the production and use of microplastics.
Modern glitter is an absolute nightmare on many levels, and not just because it seems to end up on everything long after someone opened a sparkly birthday card or took their macaroni art to the next level. It’s made from tiny flecks of plastic and aluminum and is not only difficult to assemble, but requires a lot of energy to produce, including a trip through an incredibly hot energy-hungry furnace to make it shiny and reflective.
The photograph is a close-up of the glass slide that has been covered with gold flakes with high lighting contrast and observed at larger angle.
The only thing worse than getting a year older on your birthday is opening a card to find someone has hi-lariously pranked you with a mountain of glitter. It’s not only annoying, the stuff is bad for the planet—or at least it was. Researchers from the University of Cambridge have created a non-toxic vegan glitter alternative that ensures those shiny little particles aren’t going anywhere.
We now know that the thousands of tons of microplastics used in products like cosmetics and face-scrubbing soaps are especially bad for the environment, but not before the tiny non-biodegradable particles found their way into our oceans, our national parks, and even plants. It’s a serious pollutant we may never be able to clean up at this point, but we can work toward completely eliminating the production and use of microplastics.
Modern glitter is an absolute nightmare on many levels, and not just because it seems to end up on everything long after someone opened a sparkly birthday card or took their macaroni art to the next level. It’s made from tiny flecks of plastic and aluminum and is not only difficult to assemble, but requires a lot of energy to produce, including a trip through an incredibly hot energy-hungry furnace to make it shiny and reflective.
The photograph is a close-up of the glass slide that has been covered with gold flakes with high lighting contrast and observed at larger angle.
Photo: Benjamin Drouguet
The obvious and ideal solution would be to ban glitter forever, but now that’s not going to happen thanks to a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge. (Insert a sarcastic “thanks!” here.) In a recently published paper, the team details a new approach to creating glitter-like particles from “colloidal particles of cellulose nanocrystals” which are sourced from the cellulose building blocks of trees, plants, and fruits and vegetables. Instead of using pigments or dyes to generate color, it’s the structure of the nanocrystals themselves that bend and reflect light to produce vibrant and visible shades in a similar technique to how peacock feathers and butterflies produce their vibrant colors.
Even if these non-toxic vegan glitter particles lasted for a billion years, their color would not fade or change, assuming the physics of light in our universe remain the same. But these particles won’t be around that long because they’re completely bio-degradable and will eventually just break down when discarded. This type of glitter is also easier to manufacture, as the researchers have developed a process where a cellulose solution is applied to a thin material that can then be peeled away when it’s completely dry, leaving a film that can be ground up to produce a desired consistency of glitter. One day your anger toward a friend who filled a birthday card with glitter will still be completely justified, but maybe you’ll be slightly less furious—you know, for the environment.
The obvious and ideal solution would be to ban glitter forever, but now that’s not going to happen thanks to a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge. (Insert a sarcastic “thanks!” here.) In a recently published paper, the team details a new approach to creating glitter-like particles from “colloidal particles of cellulose nanocrystals” which are sourced from the cellulose building blocks of trees, plants, and fruits and vegetables. Instead of using pigments or dyes to generate color, it’s the structure of the nanocrystals themselves that bend and reflect light to produce vibrant and visible shades in a similar technique to how peacock feathers and butterflies produce their vibrant colors.
Even if these non-toxic vegan glitter particles lasted for a billion years, their color would not fade or change, assuming the physics of light in our universe remain the same. But these particles won’t be around that long because they’re completely bio-degradable and will eventually just break down when discarded. This type of glitter is also easier to manufacture, as the researchers have developed a process where a cellulose solution is applied to a thin material that can then be peeled away when it’s completely dry, leaving a film that can be ground up to produce a desired consistency of glitter. One day your anger toward a friend who filled a birthday card with glitter will still be completely justified, but maybe you’ll be slightly less furious—you know, for the environment.
Don't worry -- it's just as annoying as it has ever been.
Monisha Ravisetti
Nov. 11, 2021
Normally, glitter microplastics pollute oceans and slowly enter the food chain. Scientists are rethinking the sparkly decoration and producing the environment-friendly glitter above.
Benjamin Droguet/University of Cambridge
We have a love-hate relationship with glitter. It's undeniably sparkly, cute and festive. But dip your hand into a jar of the iridescent plastic particles, and you'll spend the next year finding specks of it in surprising places.
Those places could range from your hair and clothes all the way to oceans and lakes, where microplastics, or minuscule nonbiodegradable bits like glitter, become an environmental hazard.
Nevertheless, glitter continues to adorn the shelves of art studios, appear in cosmetics and star in holiday wrapping paper. That's why scientists from the University of Cambridge have invented an eco-friendly alternative inspired by fresh fruit and nature's own glimmery structures: butterfly wings, peacock feathers and buttercups.
The glistening invention is even vegan, as opposed to some other cosmetic glitter products that include glycerin, which is derived from animal fats.
"It will be just as annoying -- but it won't harm the planet and is safe for your little ones," Silvia Vignolini, a professor at Cambridge's Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, said in a statement. She's the senior author of a paper on the sustainable glitter published Thursday in the journal Nature Materials.
We have a love-hate relationship with glitter. It's undeniably sparkly, cute and festive. But dip your hand into a jar of the iridescent plastic particles, and you'll spend the next year finding specks of it in surprising places.
Those places could range from your hair and clothes all the way to oceans and lakes, where microplastics, or minuscule nonbiodegradable bits like glitter, become an environmental hazard.
Nevertheless, glitter continues to adorn the shelves of art studios, appear in cosmetics and star in holiday wrapping paper. That's why scientists from the University of Cambridge have invented an eco-friendly alternative inspired by fresh fruit and nature's own glimmery structures: butterfly wings, peacock feathers and buttercups.
The glistening invention is even vegan, as opposed to some other cosmetic glitter products that include glycerin, which is derived from animal fats.
"It will be just as annoying -- but it won't harm the planet and is safe for your little ones," Silvia Vignolini, a professor at Cambridge's Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, said in a statement. She's the senior author of a paper on the sustainable glitter published Thursday in the journal Nature Materials.
The glitter is vegan.
Benjamin Droguet/University of Cambridge
Instead of building glitter from toxic plastic, her team created thin, shimmery films from cellulose, a material found in the cell walls of plants, vegetables and fruit. They put the cellulose into the form of nanocrystals, which dictate the film's color through a phenomenon called structural coloring.
A shimmery film of nanocrystals will soon become beautiful and glimmery specks.
Instead of building glitter from toxic plastic, her team created thin, shimmery films from cellulose, a material found in the cell walls of plants, vegetables and fruit. They put the cellulose into the form of nanocrystals, which dictate the film's color through a phenomenon called structural coloring.
A shimmery film of nanocrystals will soon become beautiful and glimmery specks.
Benjamin Droguet
With structural coloring, the angle of the nanocrystals forces light to scatter in a particular way, emitting a certain color. It's the same thing that happens with butterfly wings and other beautiful features of nature, which is why some sparkly insects seem to change color when exposed to different types of lighting.
Traditional minerals used to produce color typically must be heated to a whopping 800 degrees Celsius (1,472 degrees Fahrenheit), said Benjamin Droguet, a researcher in the Cambridge chemistry department and first author on the paper. As you might imagine, that heating process takes up a ton of energy and indirectly harms the planet through the use of fossil fuels.
"Conventional pigments, like your everyday glitter, are not produced sustainably," Vignolini said. "They get into the soil, the ocean and contribute to an overall level of pollution. Consumers are starting to realize that while glitters are fun, they also have real environmental harms."
Once the team's opalescent film is ground up, the resulting nontoxic, glimmery grains are identical to plastic, hazardous glitter. They might even have a leg up. Unlike normal glitter, the vivid color won't fade even after a century, the researchers say.
With structural coloring, the angle of the nanocrystals forces light to scatter in a particular way, emitting a certain color. It's the same thing that happens with butterfly wings and other beautiful features of nature, which is why some sparkly insects seem to change color when exposed to different types of lighting.
Traditional minerals used to produce color typically must be heated to a whopping 800 degrees Celsius (1,472 degrees Fahrenheit), said Benjamin Droguet, a researcher in the Cambridge chemistry department and first author on the paper. As you might imagine, that heating process takes up a ton of energy and indirectly harms the planet through the use of fossil fuels.
"Conventional pigments, like your everyday glitter, are not produced sustainably," Vignolini said. "They get into the soil, the ocean and contribute to an overall level of pollution. Consumers are starting to realize that while glitters are fun, they also have real environmental harms."
Once the team's opalescent film is ground up, the resulting nontoxic, glimmery grains are identical to plastic, hazardous glitter. They might even have a leg up. Unlike normal glitter, the vivid color won't fade even after a century, the researchers say.
A closeup of the team's gold glitter.
Benjamin Droguet/University of Cambridge
The mechanism of generation can also be easily scaled up, they say, ensuring that industrial equipment can replace toxic glitter with the biodegradable form for commercial use.
Aside from the issues related to pigments, microplastics like familiar glitter are also unsafe for the environment. They aren't biodegradable, so they end up clogging sewage pipes, hurting marine animals and even entering the human body.
The mechanism of generation can also be easily scaled up, they say, ensuring that industrial equipment can replace toxic glitter with the biodegradable form for commercial use.
Aside from the issues related to pigments, microplastics like familiar glitter are also unsafe for the environment. They aren't biodegradable, so they end up clogging sewage pipes, hurting marine animals and even entering the human body.
A coating of the team's novel glitter on a wood plank.
Benjamin Droguet/University of Cambridge
While glitter on its own doesn't comprise a significant portion of microplastics in the ocean, its limited quantity has allowed it to escape scrutiny even though it's part of the bigger problem. Recently, makeup companies have attempted to cut back on their use of glitter to prevent adverse ecological consequences, but unfortunately, experts in the cosmetics industry have struggled to reach consensus on environmentally friendly, yet glittery, cosmetic products.
Said Vignolini, "We believe this product could revolutionize the cosmetics industry by providing a fully sustainable, biodegradable and vegan pigment and glitter."
First published on Nov. 11, 2021 at 9:32 a.m. PT.
While glitter on its own doesn't comprise a significant portion of microplastics in the ocean, its limited quantity has allowed it to escape scrutiny even though it's part of the bigger problem. Recently, makeup companies have attempted to cut back on their use of glitter to prevent adverse ecological consequences, but unfortunately, experts in the cosmetics industry have struggled to reach consensus on environmentally friendly, yet glittery, cosmetic products.
Said Vignolini, "We believe this product could revolutionize the cosmetics industry by providing a fully sustainable, biodegradable and vegan pigment and glitter."
First published on Nov. 11, 2021 at 9:32 a.m. PT.
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