A beachgoer has urged couples not to throw gender reveal parties along the coast due to the remnants such parties leave behind.
A woman shared a video showing a path of pink confetti littering the white sands, asking future parents to ‘not ruin our beaches.’
Scientists have determined that traditional confetti is made of microplastics that contaminate oceans, poisons wildlife, and can take 1,000 years to break down.
The litter on the beach adds to the many gender reveal parties that have left marks on the environment – a 75-mile fire was started in California and pink confetti was scattered throughout Yosemite National Park.
A video resurfaced asking expecting parents not to litter confetti on the beach during their gender reveal parties (pictured)
Confetti can harm the environment, causing the toxic microplastics to end up in the ocean and can poison wildlife
Traditional metallic confetti is made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), metallic foil and other plastics that contain can harm the environment and wildlife.
Animals like fish, shellfish and seabirds are attracted to the glistening sheen of the confetti and can mistake it for food.
When the microplastic – small plastics that measure about five millimeters in length – collects in the animal’s stomach, it can poison them or cause them to die from starvation.
Some people have turned to biodegradable confetti as an alternative, but even this option is harms the environment and takes weeks to break down, giving wildlife ample time to eat it.
‘The beach isn’t a compost bin. People shouldn’t leave anything biodegradable,’ one person commented on the TikTok video posted in July of last year, which was reported on Tuesday by The Cool Down.
Confetti sales have soared in recent years, with a million pounds of it sold in the US each year and even paper confetti is too small to recycle, according to San Jose, California’s Waste Management.
The organization warns people to avoid using confetti outside so it doesn’t become litter and clarified that only undyed confetti can be composted because the dye may contain toxic heavy metals.
There are alternatives people can use instead of confetti such as dried flower petals, leaf cutouts and seeds.
Couples have gone to great lengths over the year with hopes of hosting an impressive gender reveal party – and most are at the cost of the environment.
Parents to be in California sparked a fire in 2020 after using ‘smoke bombs’ in a photo shoot, which created a 75-mile blaze.
Wildlife advocates have since become tired of the disastrous displays and are now calling for heft fines for those who use the environment as their reveal backdrop.
Beth Pratt, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation California, previously told McClatchy News: ‘Certainly glitter or other microplastics hugely impact wildlife.
Parents to be in California sparked a fire in 2020 after using ‘smoke bombs’ in a photo shoot, which created a 75-mile blaze
A wildlife expert shared her horror after seeing a couple leave behind pink confetti in Yosemite National Park this past January
She noted a couple who left remnants in Yosemite National Park.
‘We need to start issuing heavy fines if entitled people are going to keep causing resource damage in our national parks,’ Pratt shared on X regarding an image of the gender reveal.
‘And maybe people need to start taking a test before than can visit to show they understand these areas are protected places and home to wildlife.’
