Masks and the Negative Effects on the Environment
Oanh Nguyen '23 Staff Writer
Since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, masks are an essential commodity that everyone carries with them. COVID-19 is an extremely deadly virus that can be contagious through the mouth, nose, eyes and even ears. COVID-19 can be stopped by wearing a mask, which is required in many public places. Masks are vital to the ending of this deadly virus, but not everybody has the same opinion.
The eruption of the coronavirus has brought everything down in a progression and stagnation of society's activities. Everyone needed to stay at least 6 feet away from each other, instantly creating a barrier between people, trying their best to avoid any contraction between human and human. With that included, everybody has to wear their own mask and it helps to bring more than one with you anywhere you go, protecting yourself and others. Nevertheless, everything has a positive and a negative side, wearing a mask can make it hard to breathe and it can be inconvenient on a daily basis.
There is an increasing quantity of people throwing away their masks. The majority of masks that have been wasted or discarded have affected the environment negatively in unexpected ways. Mrs. Allan, an environmental science teacher at Howard, explains, “There is a little barrier between human and human since we can no longer view each other faces, by then I have heard a lot of people saying they can’t breath and feel suffocating because of the masks, led them to throw it anywhere they can, many end up as a potentially toxic microplastics and some are even drowned by the ocean.” Masks have an unexpected effect on everyone, especially on the environment. This issue can be prevented in so many different ways. The easiest ways are properly disposing of used masks and wearing reusable cloth masks.
When masks end up in the ocean, there can be many negative effects on the marine environment. Many sea creatures unintentionally swim close to the masks, which can lead to the mask's string suffocating them or preventing them from growing and developing. Throwing away your mask properly helps the environment by helping the sea animals live in peace and have a strong, natural environment.
Masks have both positive and negative effects within themselves. They have been extremely useful since the COVID-19 outbreak because they help protect people from the virus, but it can cause so many inconveniences, like making it hard to breathe. Even so it’s still a powerful weapon to help everyone to fight against the virus, so regardless if people want to wear them or not, people must wear them. Along with this, people must and make sure to throw them away properly to stop the masks from negatively affecting our environment,
The eruption of the coronavirus has brought everything down in a progression and stagnation of society's activities. Everyone needed to stay at least 6 feet away from each other, instantly creating a barrier between people, trying their best to avoid any contraction between human and human. With that included, everybody has to wear their own mask and it helps to bring more than one with you anywhere you go, protecting yourself and others. Nevertheless, everything has a positive and a negative side, wearing a mask can make it hard to breathe and it can be inconvenient on a daily basis.
There is an increasing quantity of people throwing away their masks. The majority of masks that have been wasted or discarded have affected the environment negatively in unexpected ways. Mrs. Allan, an environmental science teacher at Howard, explains, “There is a little barrier between human and human since we can no longer view each other faces, by then I have heard a lot of people saying they can’t breath and feel suffocating because of the masks, led them to throw it anywhere they can, many end up as a potentially toxic microplastics and some are even drowned by the ocean.” Masks have an unexpected effect on everyone, especially on the environment. This issue can be prevented in so many different ways. The easiest ways are properly disposing of used masks and wearing reusable cloth masks.
When masks end up in the ocean, there can be many negative effects on the marine environment. Many sea creatures unintentionally swim close to the masks, which can lead to the mask's string suffocating them or preventing them from growing and developing. Throwing away your mask properly helps the environment by helping the sea animals live in peace and have a strong, natural environment.
Masks have both positive and negative effects within themselves. They have been extremely useful since the COVID-19 outbreak because they help protect people from the virus, but it can cause so many inconveniences, like making it hard to breathe. Even so it’s still a powerful weapon to help everyone to fight against the virus, so regardless if people want to wear them or not, people must wear them. Along with this, people must and make sure to throw them away properly to stop the masks from negatively affecting our environment,
Masks can have a negative effect on the environment if not thrown away properly. Martina via United Nations Conference on Trade and Development