DailyKenn.com — "For every mask I see worn," quipped one conservative pundit, "I see three discarded as litter."
At some point in the near future, I predict, an enterprising individual will invent a biodegradable mask. Until then, discarded masks will compete with soda bottles and beer cans as the litter leaders.
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As the planets population approaches 8-billion — and all of us forced to wear masks — there is no end in sight to the unsightly sight of discarded mask and the harmful effects they have on the environment and (thinking like a leftist), climate change.
Keep in mind that the same authoritarians who banned plastic straws are mandating masks.
How bad is it?
According to nationalfile.com, "An estimated 1.56 billion masks polluted oceans in 2020." That amounts to "4,680 and 6,240 metric tonnes of plastic pollution," the report stated.
• One reader noted on Facebook that, considering the severity of the pandemic, used masks should be disposed like hazardous waste.
Excerpted from nationalfile.com ▼
“From a global production projection of 52 billion masks for 2020, we estimate that 1.56 billion masks will enter our oceans in 2020, amounting to between 4,680 and 6,240 metric tonnes of plastic pollution,” OceansAsia reported. “These masks will take as long as 450 years to break down and all the while serve as a source of micro plastic and negatively impact marine wildlife and ecosystems.”
[Masks on the Beach: The Impact of COVID-19 on Marine Plastic Pollution, Authors: Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, Director of Research, OceansAsiaSam Cooke, Research Associate, OceansAsia, oceansasia.org, December, 2020]
[A brief history of how plastic straws took over the world, By Sarah Gibbens, nationalgeographic.com, January 2, 2019]