In fact, the new health standards have led to an increase in the use of drives for shopping and therefore over-packaged products. Likewise, there are more and more demands for individually wrapped individual servings, plastic water bottles and disposable cutlery.
The demand for single-use medical equipment has also exploded: more and more protective gloves and masks, gloves, gowns and visors, hydroalcoholic gel packaged in plastic bottles, disposable disinfectant wipes, are installed. plexiglass windows in companies, shops and services ...
Disposable surgical masks are also a new form of pollution. They are made from polypropylene, a very dense thermoplastic material, non-biodegradable and non-recyclable. Since deconfinement, we have seen a lot of them litter the streets, which is both polluting and dangerous (risk of the spread of Covid-19). However, the masks should be thrown in the household garbage after having been stored for 24 hours in a plastic bag while the virus dies.
Unfortunately, the idea that plastic would limit the spread of the virus is false :
« According to a study published in March in the American journal The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the new coronavirus is detectable for up to two to three days on plastic or stainless steel surfaces, against 24 hours for example on cardboard. Hong Kong university researchers even estimate that it would take a week for the risk of plastic infection to dissipate.«
However, all is not lost! Alternatives to disposable plastic exist:
- Fabric masks, machine washable from 40 ° C;
- The hydroalcoholic gel to make yourself and to pack in a glass bottle;
- Virucide and a cloth to disinfect surfaces and avoid the use of wipes;
- Reusable glass or stainless steel bottles, as well as cutlery, which pose no risk if properly washed;
- For shopping, reusable glass jars or fabric bags.
