Nowadays, masks or face shields have become an essential part of every person’s body when leaving home. But they are one that poses a great risk to the environment. This situation is likely to worsen once schools are opened in Sri Lanka. There are more than 11,000 schools in Sri Lanka. They will produce hundreds of thousands of masks for use in an environment where there are hundreds of thousands of children. On average, doctors recommend 6 hours for a person to wear a mask. Also children who leave school for more than 6 hours should wear two masks a day. Not only this but there are also principals and teachers. And everyone who stays at home and goes to work in the office will have to go to the office every day during the coming seasons. Due to this the amount of these masks that are removed per day will increase even more. Therefore, it is imperative that a speedy solution be found to this problem as it is likely to be a major challenge for Sri Lanka in the future.

Garbage segregation is being implemented properly in Sri Lanka today. Municipal councils and local councils do this in a special way. People have become accustomed to distinguishing between perishable waste and non-perishable waste. But people have also developed the habit of throwing masks in the trash. In this case, it is better to put the face shields in a bin outside the house and leave them in the sun for about two days instead of throwing them in the trash. But such exact methods are used only in hospitals. The World Health Organization also points out that these must be disposed of in a proper waste disposal system. It has also been pointed out that repeated use of these masks is inappropriate. The media has a big role to play in making the right things clear to the public about this. As the media continues to inform the public about this, they will become accustomed to it. So people will also be motivated to dispose of waste in a proper manner. There is an urgent need for public awareness programs in this regard as this global situation will continue for many more years to come. Everyone from small children to adults should be advised about this.

As this will increase the use of face shields in the coming seasons, its manufacturers will have to produce more of them. This will increase the amount of carbon dioxide released into the environment by those factories. Spreading such waste on the ground further pollutes the environment. Seen in this way, this little face mask can be found to be harmful to the environment in a variety of ways.

As a result, many countries around the world are now trying to make face shields recyclable. In addition, projects are underway to make reusable face shields. Can masks be disinfected and used? As some countries are testing. Other countries are also trying to make bio-decodable face shields. If such environmentally-friendly face shields could be created, it would be highly optimized to protect the environment.