I happened to be walking back home from my daily stroll and much to my disgust amongst a pile of litter was two face masks discarded on the footpath. What struck me was not only the potential health risk of used masks being discarded like this during the pandemic but the whole range of environmental issues created by people littering these items as well as the long term impact their increased use is likely to have.
The demand for face masks from the public has been escalating as a result of UK governments recommending their use. Also, the change in policy by the World Health Organization advising that people should use face masks in places where social distancing isn’t possible will undoubtedly result in a massive increase in their number. Saikiran Kannan in his article ‘How Covid-19 renews the world’s plastic problem’ cited a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature which ‘estimated a need of 1 billion masks in Italy for the month of May soon after the lifting of its lockdown phase’. It went on to say that ‘If even only 1 per cent of masks were discarded incorrectly’ and ended up as litter it would result in ‘10 million masks per month dispersed in the environment.’
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-WiscoDave
I don't see many used masks laying around my AO, but most larger store parking lots are littered with gloves. Assholes...pigs plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteEd
If this infection was so brutally devastating why haven't medical waste bins been placed everywhere to collect this refuse? I saw a discarded mask and latex gloves in a shopping cart return at the grocery one day.
ReplyDeleteAnd if this infection was so brutally devastating why aren't we hearing about the hundreds of thousands of homeless who have died 'with' it?
DeleteI don't know if it was a meme, or some comment I read, but it was something along the line of: If the Covid virus was as deadly as it is hyped up to be, why aren't there hazardous material disposal containers located everywhere for masks and gloves to be disposed of properly?
ReplyDelete"Reduce/Reuse/Recycle"
DeleteEd
Desperation is the word of the day on masks.The $8 peons at large box stores are now healthcare enforcers on how to wear said masks.
ReplyDeleteQue???? No Hablo GRINGO!Followed by sign language and middle finger flung often....I always knew I could sign I just didnt know how well!
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As T Town said...
ReplyDeleteNow think - where do all these masks go? Into standard rubbish then off to the local rubbish tip,right?
So...acres of rubbish and masks being constantly agitated and wind blown yet no reports of neighbouring towns with unexplained severe outbreaks which one might expect...
I have heard the elastic loops can get caught on dolphin's snouts and cause them to drown.
DeleteSimilar to the reason that at the airport your "potentially dangerous" too large container of some fluid was casually tossed into a 55 gallon size bin full of all of the other dangerous substances, and the TSA just stood around it all day long.
ReplyDeleteCan't say this often enough, why have the parks, the bus stations, the supermarkets all removed the trash cans? I stuff the damn, stupid masks into a pocket and bring them home; I'll reused them a few times by pouring rubbing alcohol on them before I toss them; but I don't toss them on the ground. But I well understand (having had to listen to a couple of hysterical neighbors) the fear that some 'citizens' have had instilled in them by the rabid media coverage. They fear bringing the 'contaminated' PPE into the car and they is nowhere to get rid of them, and they drop them.
ReplyDeleteSo bring out the damn trash cans!
Easy way to end the use of face masks - take a picture of a sea turtle with a face mask strung around its neck. They'll quickly be banned from general use just like plastic straws.
ReplyDeleteGeek
I see discarded masks and gloves all the time in Home Depots parking lot
ReplyDelete