Keep up green practices during pandemic
As the novel coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States, some states have temporarily reversed eco-friendly measures, such as plastic bag bans, to protect both workers and customers. Some consumers have turned to disposable products, such as plastic gloves and utensils, to reduce the sharing of common surfaces. But it’s still possible to practice green habits without compromising your health, experts say.
It’s hard to measure how the pandemic has affected the environment in real time, but a pressing issue for environmental groups is the potential waste being produced by more people using single-use items, such as disinfecting wipes and paper towels. In addition to bleach and alcohol, soap and water works on surfaces, said Ellie Murray, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health. For a reusable option, launder towels and rags used for cleaning in warm water with soap. Cloth face coverings should be laundered regularly, too.
Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council who focuses on food waste initiatives, said the challenges of balancing safety and sustainability will continue as more businesses reopen.
“The business sector has produced much less waste, but we need to make sure we don’t lose momentum,” she said, noting that most waste is created by businesses, not consumers.
She supports measures recommended by public health experts, and she said overall that the lifestyle changes prompted by stayat-home orders, such as cooking at home, have brought about positive changes in how people are consuming and acquiring goods.
“People are cooking from scratch and contributing to their overall health and producing less waste,” she said. Composting, cooking at home and buying ingredients in bulk are all sustainable practices that she recommends.
John Mills, an associate hospital epidemiologist at the University of Michigan’s academic medical center who has been treating coronavirus patients, is frustrated by some of the waste he has seen, such as increased use of plastic utensils (he says proper handwashing will do more to prevent virus spread than using disposables). But he supports and encourages measures that minimize touch points between people and that protect workers. He said measures such as banning reusable bags in stores are good for now because they provide extra protection for workers who bag groceries. He likes his local grocery’s policy of having customers bag their own groceries, which allows them to use reusable totes instead of plastic bags.
On a larger scale, though, will there be a global drop in recycling? Falling oil prices and restrictions on what materials can be recycled could affect recycling companies’ bottom line, said Tom Szaky, founder of TerraCycle, a private recycling business that specializes in hard-to-recycle products. Many companies have limited what they accept to protect workers in the short term, which Mr. Szaky supports.
“It’s not going to make recycling go away, but it’s going to make it way less capable.”
Recycling personal protective equipment, such as the disposable masks and gloves that have ended up on streets and in landfills, is another challenge going forward, Mr. Szaky and Ms. Hoover said.
“We need to figure out how to recycle them in a way that keeps people safe,” she said.