The coronavirus pandemic started off in December 2019 in China and since then it has spread in a number of countries. But the pandemic situation has made the problem of plastic wastage even worse. There are masks, plastic bags, gloves that are being disposed all around without any proper disposal and not many attempts are being made in its recycling as the virus is highly contagious. It has been about half a year now since the virus started spreading from Wuhan in China. The nations across the globe are still in the recovery mode as the number of cases continue to surge at places where the lockdown situation has been eased. However, a few steps and awareness can help to control the plastic pollution during the pandemic.
1. Shop with refill models –When you are shopping make sure that you ask for refills instead of buying a whole new box for the items that you have. This way you would reduce the plastic usage. Also make sure that you encourage others to do so as well.
2. Dispose with formal waste collection systems – While the usage of gloves and masks has increased, make sure that you dispose these items in a formal waste collection system instead of throwing them at public places. These items can be thrown in the biomedical waste as they are later incinerated and destroyed.
3. Classify garbage – You need to classify the garbage in to wet garbage, dry garbage and biomedical garbage. Wet garbage would be the waste from the kitchen, dry garbage would be the items like plastic and paper while biomedical waste would be things like masks, gloves, PPE Kits, used needles, blades and other things made use for medical purpose.
4. Keep plastic waste away from water bodies – Just make sure that you keep away the plastic waste from the water bodies as they can contaminate them. Be responsible to dispose plastic in a proper way and help protect the marine life.
Photo Credits: Pixabay
