Now the new concern with disposable masks - Page 2

SeaMaiden · ‎03-10-2010

@noodleann wrote:
My trash is dumped in a landfill in the next county. My discarded masks aren't in the ocean.

After an actual study showed that disposable masks are the next-best thing to N95s for stopping virus transmission, I'm not giving them up. Nor should anyone else who wants to use them. Just dispose of them responsibly. If you're concerned about wildlife getting at them, cut them up before throwing them away.

Great ideas👍

Vivian · ‎03-11-2010

I don't leave home very much anymore so I keep a bag of disposable masks in my purse and in my car. I bought cloth masks but my asthma makes breathing difficult. I've found that the disposable masks are much easier for breathing. I throw them away in my garbage can but I have seen masks tossed on the streets. That is SO DUMB & LAZY.

Pearlee · ‎06-11-2011

@one smart cookie. So did I.

RetRN · ‎10-01-2013

Like we couldn't see this coming. I mentioned this to a friend in eary April, it was inevitable.

ThinkingOutLoud · ‎05-01-2020

@SeaMaiden wrote:
@ThinkingOutLoud wrote:
Maybe a new concern to some but I saw a headline about this months ago.
@ThinkingOutLoud And So? You needed to tell us? feel better now?

That was uncalled for.
I was just pointing out that this has been a known problem for a while.

RetRN · ‎10-01-2013

@SeaMaiden wrote:
@ThinkingOutLoud wrote:
Maybe a new concern to some but I saw a headline about this months ago.
@ThinkingOutLoud And So? You needed to tell us? feel better now?

Please stop being so snotty. Many of us saw this coming, no need to get nasty.

cotton4me · ‎03-09-2010

This does not surprise me having spent a lot of time in nature parks. I’ve picked up a lot of garbage over the years.

I live in a continuing care facility which includes nursing care residents. When I take walks around the employee parking lot, I see trash strewn about, including masks and gloves – despite having a trashcan in the parking lot. It’s disappointing that anyone would do this, but it seems more egregious when people who work in and around healthcare do this. One would hope they would know better.

BlueFinch · ‎08-31-2019

Looks to me like the masks in the photo are fabric masks. Fabric masks that should have been laundered numerous times before discarding.

Even the non-disposable masks will eventually need to be discarded. Just like other items of clothing, or fabric in our lives. So, I don't really see that there's a way around this situation.

I think the concern should be how we can better dispose of our protective items, that's ecologically sound, but history shows that such warnings generally receive limited compliance.

Case in point -- masks thrown in the street, or sidewalk. I can't describe what that does to my blood pressure . People who have such disrespect for others and the environment aren't about to change.

RetRN · ‎10-01-2013

@cotton4me, I worked in hospitals for 40 years. We always had large containers outside of the door of isolation rooms. By the end of a shift they would be overflowing! The situation we are dealing with now is a thousand times worse, so of course this problem was inevitable. I think that is why we were not surprised.