We really hope not, but we have to be aware of the damage that they may be causing to our natural environment as well as the pure unsightliness of them.
We were checking out a wonderful new cycling route amongst very rural lanes and were shocked to count over 20 masks (only on one side of the lane) discarded over a 1 km section. That is an average of 1 mask every 50 m and this was not a busy road. Just imagine how many of these things are around in the environment. Thankfully we see much less of a problem in the rivers.
As you can see, they are horrible and must be damaging wildlife and domestic animals too.
What can we do?
It seems pretty simple:
- Don’t discard them irresponsibly
- If you know you have dropped one by accident (the ‘straps’ sometimes break) on your motorcycle, or otherwise, stop and pick it up
- Perhaps we can carefully clear some of this problem up by organising some groups – take care with handling them, as they could contain bacteria or viruses