由特邀撰稿人Marialyce Pedersen撰写，bc菠菜论坛咨询委员会成员
While coping with a global p和emic has presented challenges to continued progress in zero waste, dedicated individuals 和 businesses are defending recycling 和 innovating quickly with new or adapted 重用 approaches that protect public health 和 safety while reducing single-use plastics generation that results in unrecyclable waste.
当然，健康和安全仍应是重中之重, a wide array of resources are available demonstrating that we can provide for the health 和 safety of care workers 和 the public while also limiting the use of disposable 每sonal Protective Equipment (PPE) 和 therefore reducing waste. 本文旨在重点介绍其中的一些资源, 和 share stories of efforts to ensure continued progress on zero waste during the COVID-19 p和emic.
An emerging challenge is increasing plastic production for disposable PPE 和 other single-use materials, 紧随其后的是简短用法, 以及在废物焚烧能源设施中焚烧医疗废物. 这造成了一连串的负面环境影响, 危害公众健康和安全, with many of those impacts falling disproportionately on disadvantaged communities where polluting facilities are located.[1]
但全球各地的社区正在加紧确保回收利用, 重用, 在这种新常态下，零浪费的努力不会白费. 欧洲联盟(欧盟), 例如, is staying strong in its commitment to reduce many single-use plastics (SUPs) by 2021, despite a plastics industry trade association request to postpone implementation due to COVID-19. 欧盟委员会拒绝了这一提议, 说明良好的卫生习惯应适用于所有产品, 包括禁用的sup的替代品.[2] And residents in the US are now rising up to prevent lifting of hard-fought regional plastic bag bans.[3]
2020年5月，非营利组织UPSTREAM发布了 COVID-19大流行期间重用的安全性, which answers an array of FAQs with reputable references regarding the safety of 重用 和 reusable products. UPSTREAM也在四月举办了一个网络研讨会， 非一次性:重复使用的安全性和未来.
在医院和护理院环境中利用再利用系统的重要性, 和其他地方, 从来没有这么挑剔过吗, as they can largely prevent shortages inherent when one-time use 和 disposal of 每sonal Protective Equipment (PPE) is the norm. 护士, 医生和设施工作人员, 每个人都配备了一周的可重复使用的长袍和耐用的口罩, 以及获得bc菠菜导航的洗涤或消毒服务, 永远不会用完个人防护装备, 同时降低间接成本. (US health-care facilities generate about 14,000 tons of waste per day; up to 25 percent is plastic.[4])
布长袍, 面具和帽子, washed nightly in massive hospital laundries (or off-site) were a st和ard in healthcare until the 1960s, when single-use plastics were marketed as safer protection against cross-contamination. 然而大多数病毒, 包括COVID-19, 用正常的消毒程序不难杀灭吗, 包括用消毒剂擦拭或清洗.
Hospital learnings may prove instructive to other businesses which are preparing to reopen 和 will need to furnish PPE for their employees, 同时意识到成本. (Provision of washable cloth masks to employees is a one-time cost; furnishing single-use, disposable masks every day to an entire workforce may be fiscally prohibitive for now-struggling businesses.)
医疗保健重用重点 & 资源
- 实践Greenhealth, a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental best practices in the healthcare community, surveys 和 tracks hospitals that have replaced single-use plastics with reusables, 并提供资源帮助其他人也这样做.
- 绿化手术室指导文件 提供案例研究, 包括Kaiser 每manente的一个, in which the use of reusable surgical gowns 和 basin sets reduced regulated medical waste by 30 tons, 节省了3英镑.8%.
- 在手术室中移动到可重用物, 据透露，提供消毒布衣和消毒布衣的成本大致相同. 纸，病人和医生都喜欢布.
- A 无伤害的医疗保健 项目及个案研究 webpage cites an Australian hospital where the annual financial savings of converting from single-use to reusable anesthetic equipment was approximately USD $25,600, 减少46%, 也产生了能量, 温室气体和节水.
- 疾控中心的出版物， Recommended Guidance for Extended Use 和 Limited Reuse of N95 Filtering Facepieces (口罩), addresses best practices in cases where supplies are becoming depleted due to p和emics (published ~2015, 在COVID-19之前).
每个人心中的问题是:是一次性的吗, 比如一次性塑料, 比可重复使用的更安全? 可靠的消息来源说"No”.
- 每 疾病控制和预防中心 (CDC), “transmission of novel coronavirus to persons from surfaces contaminated with the virus has not been documented.”
- On 3月16日 新英格兰医学杂志 发表了一项研究， SARS-CoV-2与sars - cov -1的气溶胶和表面稳定性比较, 报告说这是可行的 冠状病毒2 (SARS-CoV-2) 被检测到 申请后72小时内 塑料和不锈钢，硬纸板24小时，铜板4小时.
的 other prominent 和 important question is: is it difficult to kill COVID-19 on surfaces (such as reusable bags or cloth face masks)? 信誉良好的消息来源继续说“不”:
- 疾控中心发布了早期的洗钱指南 (如何清洁和消毒), 注意的是, any soap, any laundry detergent, will break the outer barrier of coronaviruses 和 kill it.
- 美国.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides a list of registered antimicrobial products for use against Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: 清单N: SARS-CoV-2的消毒剂.
- 专业洗衣店可以通过bc菠菜导航 医疗洗衣认可委员会(HLAC)， 确保它们达到或超过纺织品洗涤的最高标准. 2020年4月，HLAC发布 更新的指导 stating that reusable protective gear, washed by accredited laundries, is very safe.
- 对于自助洗衣店的顾客，硬币洗衣协会出版 新冠肺炎安全洗钱指南它指出，定期清洁有助于防止疾病的传播. 建议不要摇晃脏衣服，使用热水和烘干机.
Provided below are additional inspiring examples of perseverance in 重用 in the time of COVID-19:
保护区域塑料袋禁令
Temporary lifting of plastic shopping bag bans due to COVID-19 have occurred across the U.S.包括缅因州、新罕布什尔州、马萨诸塞州、纽约州和加利福尼亚州.[5]
把一线工人的安全放在首位, 消费者不得不做出选择，还是回到使用一次性塑料袋的时代. States like California, however, have issued OSHA-COVID guidelines for stores 和 workers. 的y can allow the client to use their own reusable bags 和 bag their own groceries. 如果这是不允许的, 购物者通常求助于用手推车将杂货运送到车辆上, 他们可以在哪里把买的东西转移到他们的包里. Environmental groups are working closely with health departments 和 grocery stores to provide the best data on reusable bags.
- 2020年5月，Sunrise Sequoyah Pasadena (CA)发起了一项投资 写信 在帕萨迪纳市, 加州市长Terry Tornek说, requesting that the Pasadena City Council reinstate Pasadena’s bag ban 和 increase communication with the public regarding the safety of reusable items.
零浪费可再填充商店适应性
Most retail zero waste/refill stores which were forced to close storefront operations due to COVID-19 have switched to providing on-line ordering 和 curbside pickups or deliveries, 保护客户健康和安全, 非接触式产品分配创新正在到来或即将到来.
香港安全再用冠军
香港, 世界上人口最稠密的地方之一, 是阻止病毒蔓延的指路明灯. 世界自然基金会香港分会 提醒香港居民继续自备货柜. Sierra Club Zero Waste Facebook recently posted photos from 香港, including 餐馆里可重复使用的餐具 和 杂货店里可重复使用的购物袋.
安全前行
的 bc菠菜论坛bc菠菜导航评级制度 提供关于推荐的减少和重用的最佳实践的广泛指导. 在2019冠状病毒病大流行期间, the zero waste community must constantly iterate to find safe ways to reduce waste, 重用的材料, 在回收的同时，把工人的健康和安全放在首位. 与bc菠菜论坛的合作伙伴一起，这项重要的工作将 继续进步.
[1] 焚烧医疗废物对健康和生态的影响，弗朗西斯·贝尔迪亚，《bc菠菜导航》，2月. 2015.
[2] 欧盟驳回了行业要求解除一次性塑料禁令的呼吁Frederic Simon, Euractiv.com, 4月. 2020.
[3] 在冠状病毒疫情中，业界看到了取消塑料袋禁令的机会， Hiroko Tabuchi，《bc菠菜导航》，2020年3月.
[4] 没有塑料，医疗保健还能存在吗? 莎拉·吉本斯，《bc菠菜论坛》，2019年10月.
[5] 在冠状病毒疫情中，业界看到了取消塑料袋禁令的机会， Hiroko Tabuchi，《bc菠菜导航》，2020年3月.