Emma Morano was an Italian who was the world’s oldest Italian person ever and the second-oldest European person ever behind Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment. On April 15, 2017, she passed away at the age of 117 years. Morano is believed to be the last person born in the 1800s.

Emma Morano was born in Civiasco, Italy on November 29, 1899. Her father worked in a metal casting factory and her mother made slippers for a living. As a teenager, her family moved to Verbania, Italy, and settled nearby Lake Maggiore, where Morano has lived for the rest of her life.

She married in 1926, and her only child was born in 1937. Unfortunately, the child died, just six months old, and Morano and her husband separated the following year. She has been living a simple life ever since, independently living in her apartment and on a diet of three eggs a day. She worked at a rope factory until she retired at age 75.

While Emma Morano lived for over a hundred years, the world around her changed greatly.   The first half of the 20th century saw two major conflicts that affected nearly every country—World War I and World War II. The United Nations was created to maintain peace and prevent further conflict. On the social front, women earned their right to vote. and now work alongside men in all professions. We have seen huge leaps in technology during Emma's lifetime from electric bulbs that lit up homes, to telephones that connected people and the age of flight that shrunk travel time. Television and radio became popular entertainment. In 1958, the microchip was invented; in 1969, the first Internet was introduced; and in 1975, the first personal computer was sold.

The 20th century has also seen fundamental discoveries in physical and biological sciences that have helped us make sense of the largest of galaxies, and the smallest of atoms and human cells. Isn't it amazing how much can change in one person's lifetime?

Glitter has long been a staple of the primary classroom. Space topic art project? Time to break out the glitter. Making cards to send home to parents? Glitter is necessary.

And yet, recent research suggests that glitter is actually bad for the environment. Several schools have even proposed a ban on using glitter in the classroom as a result.

The problem is that microplastics, including glitter, do not break up. When these small plastic are washed down the drain and reach the ocean, they can be eaten by fish,seabirds and other marine life, causing them harm. Now, as a measure to protect marine environments, scientists such as Dr Trisia Farrelly have gone so far as to suggest that “all glitter should be banned”.

Is a ban on glitter really necessary? Kevin O'Brien, Year 6 teacher, said, “I believe it to be a good idea if only to reduce the mess and wastage caused from its use. Many a time I have been told off by my cleaner.” However,   Gaynor Bright, a teacher, believes that “Banning glitter in schools won't make a huge difference,” she says. “Producing environmentally safe glitter is the answer.” One thing that O'Brien and Bright agree on, though, is that children should be taught about the harmful impact plastic has on our environment.

Would schools be willing to accept the change? Of the l,092 nursery workers surveyed, only 22 percent were in favour of banning glitter. O'Brien points out that it is perhaps not down to teachers' desire for the glitter, but “I would suggest that there are many more important issues such as a finance for schools, teacher pay and workload that are much more important than whether glitter should be banned or not,” he says.

“A ban on glitter is a step too far,” Gaynor says, “Education, not banning, is the only way to get our next group of potential adults and leaders to think carefully about their environmental impact.”