Covid protection versus eco friendly

Chestnut

Riverwalk, I've already said hospitals should sanitise protective items and use them again. They will be perfectly safe to use again if sterilised.

Have you considered the resources that would be needed to do this? The energy required to sterilise millions of items? How would you ensure each plastic glove was laid out perfectly so that there were no hidden folds or inside-out fingers? The flimsy plastic wouldn’t stand heat sterilisation so chemicals would be required. Plus the staff needed to service all this, presumably people who don’t mind putting themselves at risk of Covid, the collection points, the work areas needed and so on.

In a former life I was involved in sterilising hospital equipment. It’s an exacting task and it’s easy for it to go wrong.

The ecological cost of the pandemic is not a pretty thing but it might be the price we have to pay, unfortunately.

BigBertha1

Hospital staff reusing gloves, aprons and gowns- oh please!

Sorry.....please what?

I have been using the lateral flow tests twice a week and have been concerned about the plastic waste generated by these and by disposable masks. Each self test involves: a test strip, an extraction tube, a sachet of buffer solution, a swab and a waste bag. All these items are plastic and packaged in plastic and the instructions tell you to dispose of them in general household waste. I really hope that at least some of these necessary Covid protection items can be recycled but suspect that it all goes to landfill.

Hospital staff reusing gloves, aprons and gowns- oh please!

I read of a dog that died after eating a discarded disposable face mask that had been tossed on the ground. There is a piece of wire in them which caused fatal injuries to the dog. People that were litter louts pre Covid still are post Covid.

There’s lots of ‘good’ stuff going on around the world but all we are given is gloom and doom.
Here’s some of the good stuff ??? www.bangkokpost.com/world/2055311/deadliest-catch-recycling-thailands-ghost-fishing-nets

Perhaps they could use that plastic that disintegrates as they do with so called eco friendly plastic bags? I’m not sure I would trust the sterilisers, they do go wrong quite often. I have a lot of masks I made which I wash each time I use. Not very hard to make except we couldn’t get elastic for a while because, like toilet rolls, people bought up and hoarded it.

Riverwalk, I've already said hospitals should sanitise protective items and use them again. They will be perfectly safe to use again if sterilised.

Hospital staff are throwing away single use plastic aprons etc

Would you rather they re-use them, perhaps when treating you?

Are we saving ourselves at the expense of the planet

Oh, just what does this mean?

Shrub

Last time at the hairdressers they used a plastic apron on me and an extra plastic thingy over my shoulders. The rules apparently, all disposed of after one use! Surely this could be changed now they are fairly certain cases are the result of airborne virus.

airborn transmission is the reason why people need to be covered. If you aren't going to change or sanitise gloves after EVERY interraction, then gloves are worse than useless. I do agree about masks being just dumped but these are the same people who dump nappies, condoms and fast food wrappings and have been doing so for years, I'd love to see that changed but don't see it so far

Last time at the hairdressers they used a plastic apron on me and an extra plastic thingy over my shoulders. The rules apparently, all disposed of after one use! Surely this could be changed now they are fairly certain cases are the result of airborne virus.

I wish that plastic masks were not allowed for sale.

I wish people would limit car journeys and flying.

I wish we could stop polluting our rivers and seas.

We are destroying our planet.

I have worried about this since March last year. Trillions of masks used worldwide and plastic gloves are probably the worse. Hospital staff are throwing away single use plastic aprons etc. Hospitals should sanitise protective items and use them again! I wonder what Greta has to say about all this? ?

Paperbackbutterfly
All I can say is: your not alone ?

I don't think all that sanitiser running into the waste water is any good for the planet either. I am concerned about all the waste generated through masks and things.

This Yorkshire company is doing something about it.

www.reworked.com/2020/10/22/reclaimthemask-what-is-reclaim-the-mask-recycling/