A little over a year ago I sent the below email to this list about all the discarded masks and gloves I was seeing. A short time later, I decided to start taking pictures of this specific type of pandemic litter, particularly the masks, while out taking my daily walks through East End neighborhoods. I created a photo album and now, a year later, I sadly have 7,228 pictures of masks and gloves (mostly masks). I have tried not to include any duplicates, although I’m sure there have been a few unintentional ones. I have also tried to clean up a majority of the masks and gloves that I take pictures of, although I don’t always have the appropriate apparatus with me on my walks to safely do so. This is truly disgusting. Yesterday, on Earth Day, I took pictures of exactly 100 masks on my walk through East Liberty, Friendship and Garfield, a record for one day. Despite it being all over the news that outdoor masking is not, and never was, scientifically necessary (Wash Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/20/shedding-masks-bit-our-pa... NY Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/22/well/live/covid-masks-outdoors.html NPR - https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/04/21/989104800/m... ), it seems that people in the East End who “believe in science” (I say this as a liberal who most definitely believes in science) don’t want to believe this particular piece of science. Fine, whatever, you do you. But if you’re going to keep up the performance, can you at least try to get the used mask into the proper receptacle when you’re through with it - a trash can if it’s a disposable and your washing machine if it’s cloth?? And can you be more careful when getting in and out of your car, when it seems masks are most likely to drop, and when keeping them in your pockets with other things that you may reach for? Unfortunately I know this won’t actually do anything; although there are a large number of cloth masks in my photo collection, which I assume have been accidentally dropped, the vast majority are disposable and appear to have been intentionally discarded on the ground. And just one more thought. Maybe to all those who waste their time kvetching on NextDoor or other social media about those of us who actually DO follow the science - that is, we walk outside without a mask by ourselves or with our own household not near anyone else and minding our own business - maybe, just maybe, you could spend that energy doing something that’s actually productive for society and would actually keep your neighbors safer and healthier: pick up all the used masks. (Especially that lady who screamed at me from across the street when I was not 3 weeks out of the hospital from heart surgery. Yeah. Especially her.) Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message:
From: Emily Nicholson <emilynich@gmail.com> Date: April 23, 2021 at 3:57:47 PM EDT To: Emily Nicholson <emilynich@gmail.com> Subject: Fwd: Litter - masks and gloves
---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Emily Nicholson <emilynich@gmail.com> Date: Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 8:14 PM Subject: Litter - masks and gloves To: <neighborhood@highlandparkpa.com>
I wish we could do a better job at keeping used masks and gloves off of the sidewalks and streets. They are becoming more ubiquitous than candy wrappers and cigarette butts. Ironic that objects being used to keep us clean and healthy are ending up as a particularly disgusting form of litter.
Sent from my iPhone