THERE IS NO PLANET B
In my family we have always been thrifty people and we usually buy only what is necessary, however, since the quarantine ended and we started going out little by little, I think we have bought more than 40 face masks to vary their color, texture, size, among other insignificant things. And now that I see the accumulation of face masks, I think about where they'll end up in about three years.
It is
true that, thanks to the isolation and industrial paralysis in the world, we
have reduced pollution levels in a large proportion and as the SDG's indicates, during the pandemic the greenhouse gas emissions dropped in a 6% which is a big advance when the main goal was 7,6%. Also, while humans were at
home, videos and images of animals walking through streets and urban areas that
used to be crowded by people were viral on social media. While this
suggests in a positive link between nature and the Covid-19 pandemic, the
reality is much more sinister.
Today by following biosecurity standards and fighting the virus, we all carry in our bags disinfectant, alcohol, face masks and even gloves. These objects have become essential to our day-to-day life, but in the long run they can turn out to be quite harmful if we do not act with responsibility when throwing them away.
We have
created a global culture of "use and throw" and from the first months
after quarantine you could observe masks and gloves floating in the oceans,
threatening marine species and reefs. The most worrying thing is that each
mask takes about 450 years to break and degrade according to OceansAsia and, by
2020 there was a worldwide production of 52 billion face masks (not counting
the clothe ones).
So my
reflection on this blog is that we have to be more aware when buying our
biosecurity elements, that we always try to look for those that are reusable
and when they finish their cycle of use, we inform ourselves about the best way
to throw it away and not generate a great impact on the environment.
Sources
Ocean news. (2020, September 29). Retrieved March 27, 2021, from https://oceansasia.org/oceannews/
Goal 13 | Department of economic and social affairs. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2021, from https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal13
Saris, its a really good point that you talk about on your blog, the level of plastic that has increased in the world thanks to the covid is worrying, all the data you spoke about appears precisely in a documentary that I saw recently, it is called Seaspiracy and there speaks of this new residue, the mask, that is present in the oceans and that reaches almost 560 million masks in the sea. I think your invitation is more than pertinent at this time so we can be aware of the consumption we do and the security that we must have at the same time, for example at my house we buy large jars of alcohol and we repackage them in small reusable silicone jars that we get in an ecological store to avoid buying the small plastic ones and also in my personal case I prefer to buy cloth masks that can be washed and reused.
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