I was shocked to read an item in The Press recently which reported that schools had been asked not to use glitter in their classrooms – not because I thought it was one more example of political correctness, but because it revealed my own naivety!

Until that moment, I had never even given a thought to what glitter was made from .... plastic. To add to my dismay, I’d recently bought some attractive Christmas wrapping paper covered with small silver stars, which proved to be covered with glitter when I opened the roll.

On wrapping the first few parcels, I found tiny bits of glitter all around the room which still seem to be surfacing several days later.

Some of these will unavoidably end up in the washing machine, and perhaps into waste water as micro plastics and we have all now heard how damaging that can be.

This experience has prompted me to write to The Press. We need a series of Christmas “eco-tips” helping us to be careful and considerate (rather than killjoy) as we get involved in the Christmas festivities, so avoiding unwitting pollution. Perhaps some of your readers could share their ideas with us?

Dorothy Reed, Middlethorpe Drive, York