Although we don’t know exactly what Christmas 2020 will look like just yet, one thing’s for sure: it’s going to be one to remember.

We may not know how many people we’ll be able to celebrate with just yet or whether we’ll be allowed to visit other people’s homes, but after the chaos of the last year, we’re more inclined than ever to indulge in the magic that is the festive season.

With that being said, however, there’s also a growing awareness of the impact this time of year tends to have on the environment. Alongside the sheer amount of waste that gets produced (in 2014, it was estimated that 4.2 million Christmas dinners were thrown away), there’s a less-noticeable festive favourite playing havoc with the climate: glitter.

Because most glitter products are still made from plastic (etched aluminium bonded to polyethylene terephthalate, to be precise), they contribute to the growing problem of microplastics – the minuscule plastic products which often end up being consumed by wildlife and can cause them to starve.

Morrisons and Waitrose have announced they will no longer use glitter in their own-brand Christmas products