Tossed personal protective equipment ending up in ocean
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- It's a sign of the times. The more something is used the more of it ends up in the trash. And right now there's a lot of masks, gloves, wipes and other personal protective equipment (PPE) ending up in the trash.
Santa Barbara County Public Works officials are pushing people to be more aware of their PPE. They're seeing more of it end up in gutters and places they shouldn't be.
Breda Wall was out for a walk an noticed some discarded PPE. "Definitely mask. And usually the disposable ones."
Wall isn't the only one noticing more disposable PPE in the trash. But she gets frustrated when she see it on the ground or in the gutter instead of the trash.
"It's littering but something that's more dangerous than littering," said Wall. "You know for the people the sanitation workers that have to deal with it. It's just disrespectful."
Santa Barbara County Public Works official, Lael Wageneck, is reminding the public that a lot of what is discarded and doesn't go into the trash, makes its way into the ocean. And masks and plastic gloves are harmful to marine life.
"We definitely don't want them in the gutters because then they end up in our creeks and out in the ocean where animals can get to them," said Wageneck. "And we definitely want to keep them away from the wildlife."
Wageneck recommends avoiding one-time use PPE for reusable PPE to reduce the amount that end up in the trash.
"The CDC recommends that everyone wears a cloth face covering, like this one. But if you need to wear a one-time use face mask, or latex gloves, they should definitely go in the trash can and not the recycling bin," said Wageneck.
County officials are asking you to be more aware of where you PPE ends up. And if you have an extra napkin or a trash picker, help pickup those discarded PPE that didn't make their way into the trash cans.
The city of Santa Barbara added extra trash cans near beaches to help.
You can also download Marine Debris Tracker App to identify which areas need more public attention and cleaning.
