The BioGlitter Initiative was formed by Troop 436 in order to earn the Girl Scout Silver Award by improving their community, but it has become much more than that.
"To provide awareness and understanding on the harm that traditional glitter causes and to introduce alternative solutions."
Troop 436 launched the BioGlitter Initiative to remove harmful plastic glitter from our schools and communities. We think that the environment, along with the students in our community would benefit from a switch to biodegradable glitter. An article in the University of Washington’s Human Resources Webpage states, “The chemical substances used during the production of glitter have been found to adversely affect human health—including causing damage to our immune and reproductive systems and potentially leading to developmental delays and cancers—and environmental health, contaminating our soil, air, water and food.”
Our goal is to replace plastic glitter used in schools around the Anchorage School District with biodegradable glitter. Plastic glitter is a form of microplastics, which can affect people's immune systems, reproductive systems, and their general health, especially for young children. In addition to this, plastic glitter and microplastics in general can greatly harm the environment and the creatures that live in it. This form of plastic is used by thousands of people every day, and over fourteen million tons of microplastics go into the ocean per year.
Our mission is to change that. Others on our earth have set a positive precedent by banning plastic glitter in the European Union. We used our Silver Award goals to help us lay a foundation for future efforts, including collecting unused plastic glitter for a community art project and advocating for the Anchorage School District to make the switch from plastic glitter to biodegradable and eco-friendly glitter.