The Covid-19 pandemic created major challenges in all areas, including waste management. Masks and gloves used for protection, when discarded, will have a certain destination: the oceans. This is what a small BBC report with data from the NGO Ocean Conservancy points out
According to the institution, the world has been discarding 129 billion masks and 65 billion plastic gloves every month in the environment. If the problems caused by the use of materials made of plastic – with islands being formed in the oceans – were not enough, this pandemic will put even more waste in the seas.

“The glove or mask that you take off and casually discard, because you believe it is important for your safety, can easily be the glove or mask that kills a whale,” explains Doug Cress, vice president of conservation at the NGO Ocean Conservancy in BBC interview.

It is ironic to think that one of the possibilities for the emergence of this virus is precisely the destructive action of man in nature. In the struggle for life, perhaps the result will be an even greater loss for the Environment, ecosystems and for Humanity itself.

“We must understand that a simple act of indifference or self-protection can have a tremendously harmful effect at the other end”, he adds.

It is very clear that the problem is not the pandemic and we hope that we can save as many lives as possible. It is important to ask world leaders to confront the Coronavirus, but putting more waste in the environment.