A new report from the Ocean Conservancy said nearly 100 percent of volunteers found PPE at coastal cleanup sites, including in Oregon, with face masks the most common item.
Nick Mallos, a senior director at the organization, said the waste of all plastic disposables is up, and now is a critical time for legislation. Two proposed bills in Oregon would have phased out single-use plastic and polystyrene foam for food use statewide.
鈥淪o these two bills did not make it out of committee,鈥� Mallos told KLCC, 鈥渂ut we are optimistic that in the next legislature, once hopefully COVID has subsided a little bit, that we can resurface these types of policies.鈥�
Mallos noted the bills targeted products for which there are good, non-plastic alternatives.
Federally, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley reintroduced the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act a couple weeks ago. It would ban some single-use items and mandate recycled content minimums for manufacturers.
Mallos said the Ocean Conservancy found more than 100,000 items of PPE worldwide in less than six months last year, certainly a vast undercount because there were far fewer volunteers.
鈥淭he other items that have been littering our beaches for decades, we鈥檝e also seen a massive uptick in their use during the pandemic,鈥� said Mallos. 鈥淪o takeaway and delivery services are at an all-time high right now, and unfortunately with most of those services comes an increased use in disposable plastic material.鈥�
One thing people can do to help is clip the ear loops from disposable masks. Mallos said, like six-pack holders, they can ensnare wildlife.
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