Disposable masks fill our streets and remind us of what has been the last 20 months in our new world we call home. When COVID-19 hit, the amount of single use masks, shields, gloves, and gowns grew in numbers creating a haunting sense of waste and litter in our streets that I come across every day. Even at work we were forced to wear the disposable masks only. Not only is this going to cause a major increase in our landfills, but workers were also faced with how to use these disposable PPE’s properly. Not having proper training in the use of disposable PPE raises issues with not being properly protected (Pajel, 2020, p.27). What is even more troubling is the amount of disposal PPE, like masks and gloves, littered in our streets. This is our new form of litter and it is hard to ignore. As time goes on and the pandemic still lingers, with mask rules still in effect, the amount of litter from PPE is not going away any time soon. There needs to be more talk on the proper disposals of PPE and how each person can limit their uses of them. If health care workers are at risk from properly using PPE which has been learned, then people without this training just may be at an even greater risk (Pajel, 2020, p.28). With PPE becoming a regular item of clothing for the non-health care worker, more needs to go into educating on how to properly use and discard these items. As time moves forward, I see more and more PPE litter around my neighbourhoods and wonder what it is going to do for our future earth. As we walk among our sidewalks and streets, we are reminded of how the world quickly shifted into pandemic mode and that is a haunting feeling.
Image taken by Nicole Larocque, 2021
The image taken portrays the many disposable PPE that is filling our streets and landfills from the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a haunting capture as it sits there in the mud becoming a part of our reality. It only took about ten more steps to find another disposable mask just left on the ground.