Glitter Is Litter Campaign Hits Class of '19

Grads told to skip the sparkle to help save the environment

Glitter on the ground on the Texas A&M University campus.

Photographer: Jennifer Hickle Carpenter

It’s commencement season, and college campuses are contending with an ugly glitter problem.

Robe-clad graduates at Texas A&M University are flocking to the campus’s most picturesque spots to pose for photos beneath a shower of sparkly plastic bits. The colorful mess left behind is nearly impossible to clean up, threatening to wash into nearby White Creek, said Joseph Johnson, manager of The Gardens, a new outdoor education center.