Thread by @OhCasavant

Worried about the environment? WEAR A MASK.

What? But most are disposable & generate waste!

I assure you, wearing a mask leads to less waste than spreading COVID / Flu / RSV.

A thread, inspired by some infectious disease specialists.

/1

You should not be shocked to learn that North American hospitals generate more waste per bed than anywhere else in world.🥇

One recent study found the average waste generated per hospital stay in North America is a staggering

4.42 kg / bed / day.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35364785/

/2

“Hospital waste comes from areas like food, electronic and paper waste, but the biggest source is clinical care…. a US study found that a single hysterectomy produced 20 pounds of waste in plastic, packaging, drapes...”

healthydebate.ca/2016/08/topic/…

/3

The total number of COVID hospitalization bed days in Canada from health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/ is 5,336,151 as of Nov 22 (not people - bed days).

So, we can estimate COVID hospitalizations in Canada have generated

23,585,787 kg of waste --> more than 23,000 tonnes
😱

/4

And that’s not even waste from funerals! Check out @MoriartyLab work.

"By our estimates, as of Nov 18 there have been over 37,000 Omicron deaths in Canada, with 52% of these deaths undetected/unreported."
(Just. Since. Omicron BA.1 hit late 2021!)

/5

https://twitter.com/MoriartyLab/status/1594883630144315392?s=20&t=1KgCml3-aPKjlD__wC_w2w

I can’t find a good waste generation factor for funerals. But here are the types of medical wastes generated by funeral homes.

/6

Oh, and of course cremation. 70 to 80% of Canadians are cremated. An interesting overview on types of emissions from cremation can be found here:

ncceh.ca/documents/fiel…

/7

And that’s not even considering greenhouse gas emissions:
The average U.S. cremation, for instance, “takes up about the same amount of energy and has the same emissions as about two tanks of gas in an average car,” Menkin says. “So, it’s not nothing.”
nationalgeographic.com/science/articl…

/8

Now, to be fair, and macabre, all the people who died from COVID would have died eventually. But perhaps front-loading the environmental impact now is not a good thing? Hopefully, our environmental impact from funerals, etc diminishes over time?

/9

All right so the big question:

What about the waste from masks? Surely, it's better to spread disease during a pandemic, right?

I mean - gasp - the environmental impact from masks!!

/10

Pack of 10 @CanadamasQ CA-N95s weighs ~ 80g.

Wearing NEW CA-N95 every day for a year generates 2.92 kg of waste.
(vs 🚨22.1 kg for 5 day hospital stay).

Oh, and you can re-use the masks, so that’s the MAXIMUM amount of mask waste per person.

(My daughter loves these BTW)
/11

BTW, @LazarusLong13 made some similar calculations (in non-metric😉) in a great thread here. TL:DR masks generate less waste than hospital stays!

#BringBackMasks #COVIDisAirborne #FluIsAirborne

/12

https://twitter.com/LazarusLong13/status/1517577842166407169?s=20&t=1KgCml3-aPKjlD__wC_w2w

Anyway, you get the point. Under no circumstances should anyone be arguing against masks for environmental reasons.

In particular, ID docs generally have zero materials management, life cycle analysis, or related eco-expertise.

/13

If you are interested in eco-friendly masks, you can purchase a reusable elastomeric one e.g. Breathe or FloMask. And, there are even masks made from plant-based materials! (Looks like you should use a mask-brace with them, though.)

/14

https://twitter.com/BarryHunt008/status/1596929411844300801?s=20&t=1KgCml3-aPKjlD__wC_w2w

Some mask manufacturers like @vitacoreinc even have recycling programs!

vitacore.com/recycling-prog…

/15

If you are interested in improving the sustainability performance of hospitals, check out The Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care!

greenhealthcare.ca

/16

BTW – ⬆️ hospital waste means ⬆️GHGs (whole other🧵, I'm afraid!)

Doctors interested in working to address the climate crisis & environmental issues should get in touch with @Melissa_Lem or Cdn Assoc of Physicians for the Environment (@CAPE_ACME)
cape.ca

/17

Oh, and if a loved one does die tragically due to the astonishing mass infection experiment aided by so much disinformation regarding masks, and you are interested in greener burial options, you can check out the Green Burial Society of Canada

/18
greenburialcanada.ca/greenburial

Please. Wear a mask.

It shows you are a good person...

who cares about the health of your fellow humans, especially tiny or vulnerable ones,

and the environment.

#BringBackMasks

/end