Remember back in the early days of the pandemic? People were panicking and lining up to buy masks in bulk, online stocks were vanishing overnight despite the criminal overpricing of some sellers who chose to take advantage of the situation. At one point a single disposable mask was worth upwards of Php100.00.
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| Image courtesy of CNN Philippines |
And people still bought them!
Then after sometime when the dust settled and stocks were replenished, the prices began to go down. Now, you can buy a box of 50's for Php49.00!
Then studies revealed that masks were not enough and it was recommended that we use face shields over the masks. Local governments imposed ordinances requiring everyone in public, especially in malls and in mass transportation to use them or risk being fined. Business establishments refused entry to those who did not comply. Again the opportunists took advantage of it and were charging up to Php100.00 per piece.
Now you can buy one on the streets for as low as Php7.00.
It has become the norm despite the hardheadedness of a few morons who had no respect for the law or no concern for other people, not to mention themselves.
That being said, I am genuinely curious and at the same time concerned.
Since the start of the pandemic, how many facemasks have you used? How many face shields?
Where are they now? Did you throw them in the trash bin? Together with other regular trash?
Let's say you used an average of 2 masks a week. (because you are kuripot or was trying to save money because times are hard) Or you actually have the money and use 1 mask every single day.
Then let's say masks became more available around April or May 2020. That's 9 to 10 months or 36 to 40 weeks.
So on average, you may have used between 80 masks (tipid mode) and 280 masks (yayamanin mode)
Let's multiply that by the number of people in this city who use masks. Conservatively 40,000 people? As of 2015, Urdaneta City had a population of 132,900.
So if 40,000 people in Urdaneta used 2 masks per week for 40 weeks from April 2020 to February 2021, the rough number of masks used is...
3,200,000
That's for tipid mode of 2 masks per week!
And even though there are people who wear washable masks, there is a huge chance that the number is higher, considering the people who use a new mask daily.
If 50,000 people in Urdaneta used 2 masks per week from April 2020 to February 2021, then that number easily jumps to 4,000,000 masks!
Then how about other towns and cities in Pangasinan? In La Union? In Tarlac? The whole Philippines? The whole world???
Wow! The manufacturers of masks made a LOT of money!
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| Image courtesy of BBC |
And now, the 4million-dollar question is - Where are those masks now? How were they disposed of? Were they burned, buried, or left in open dumpsites together with biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste?
I have personally come across old masks hanging from tree branches, perhaps blown upwards by a strong wind. You can probably see some along the roadsides. I have seen a few near ricefields!
And what about face shields? These are made of thicker plastic - the transparent visor and the frame. That's an entirely different computation.
I have checked the latest IATF Guidelines.
They mostly contained resolutions involving the opening of businesses, banning travelers from certain countries, and the latest classification of cities - GCQ, MGCQ, etc.
I may be wrong, but I have yet to see a mention or two on the proper disposal of masks, face shields, PPE's and other COVID19-related medical waste.
You may think, it is not a priority now, as we need to focus on disease prevention, the vaccine, businesses and jobs, and of course, the schools.
But if we ignore this for too long, we will begin to feel the effects of this looming environmental disaster sooner or later. After all, we are not even at the beginning of the end of this pandemic.
Imagine a wall of facemasks and face shields slamming up our coastlines in the coming typhoons. Worse, imagine cutting up your favorite fish for dinner only to find traces of a facemask in its belly. Some of these plastics could get dumped in the rivers. The list goes on.
Disclaimer: This is not an official study nor an official article. This is my opinion on this blog. But it makes sense right?
For the year 2021, Rotary International has included the environment as one of its areas of focus. The Urdaneta Hub supports this endeavor and together with the local and national agencies in charge (DENR) as well as other organizations such as the Society of Filipino Foresters, we ask for your support for spreading awareness to mitigate this imminent crisis.
For starters, maybe use or go back to using washable masks
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