Cut the straps and bin the masks

In recent weeks it has come to my attention that during this troubling time we are once again having a damaging impact on the environment around us. This has come from the PPE we are disposing of, or the lack of disposing to be more precise. You only have to walk down any high street in the UK to see discarded PPE in the streets. This is then finding its way into nature and having a detrimental effect on the animals that we share our environment with.

I completely understand that we are in a state of emergency and that PPE is a necessity especially for the health service. But I believe that we could be doing more to prevent this pandemic having a lasting impact on the environment around us. We had only just woken up to the damage that single use plastic has had on the world and especially our oceans and those living in them when Coronavirus struck. Now we face another battle, that is to make the world see the damage of not disposing of PPE correctly. Never before have we used so many disposable single use gloves, masks and wipes. This is why it is vital to make sure that these are disposed of correctly.

I have seen several stories of birds becoming tangled in the straps of disposable masks. This is truly heart breaking to see and I cannot even comprehend the discomfort and panic this must cause them.

To combat this, we should make sure that we are breaking the straps on the masks before we dispose of them, which is very similar to how we break up the six pack rings which hold cans together. This should have become second nature to us by now and that’s what we need the breaking of the ear straps on the masks to become. It is also important to make sure that these are placed correctly into bins.

This can help prevent the disposable masks becoming litter and damaging the environment. As with all rubbish it should be correctly sorted between recyclable and non-recyclable, as far as I am aware at the time of writing this, the single use masks are non-recyclable. That’s why I would advise that where it is safe to do so we try to use reusable masks.