How we can do better than banning reusables during the pandemic

Blindfolded with industry claims, people are looking away from what really matters. The governments are quick to cave-in under lobbyist pressure. And we’re allowing our environment, nature, Ocean, and Mother Earth to suffer yet again.

I’ve been blessed to spend all of my time outdoors and in nature, discovering trails, parks, wildlife, and birds during Covid away from cities and people. In a remote area in the US, I’ve reconnected with nature and my nature. Walking along a path the other day — I see plastic bottles under some mangroves in the middle of a very remote estuary — how many people have even been through this land to warrant plastic bottles?

In the last week or so, I notice an increased number of cups, lids, plastic bags on the sides of roads, parking lots, and in nature in general—more than usual. I realize most trash bins around parks are filled with single-use bottles, coffee cups, lids, and straws. Windy days mean these overflowing bins get scattered into the environment, even in the US. With most municipalities practicing reduced trash pick-ups and most cafes following a mandate to refuse reusables — it’s a heart-wrenching reality.

When Covid 19 started, the world’s focus, rightfully, turned to human health. We all became concerned about how the virus was spreading, what practices reduced the spread, which areas recorded the highest spread, how to protect our most vulnerable from contracting the disease. The entire world magically and beautifully came together to understand and battle the same threat facing humanity.

At the onset of Covid in the US, industry stepped in. The consumption-focused plastics and chemicals industry stepped in and lobbied that single-use, throw-away plastics were better and more sound than reusables in preventing the spread of Covid 19. With no credible claims and proven misinformation, they pressured States and Cities to ban the use of reusables. It only made sense for industry profits- the more single-use throwaway harmful plastics they sell, the better it is for them and their increasingly concerned shareholders. Many of them are also diversifying their investments towards ESGs and more eco companies to keep up with the times, proving a tight environment for the plastics and chemicals industries. The pandemic presented the perfect opportunity for them to throw a killer blow to their increasingly successful opponents — the reusables industry.

Let’s rationally look at why their claims are just outright untrue with real-world factual examples.

New Zealand…

• They have the lowest Covid19 rates.
• They’ve continued the use of reusables through-out the pandemic.
• They are nearly Covid19 free 12 months later… An island nation of 5 million people and their highest was two dozen cases.
• As of this article's publication, NZ announced one family testing positive for Covid and taking the necessary precautions.
• They are high-risk — as their population is an island and many goods and products are imported and have a high tourist rate.
• They eliminated Covid in 100 days with the lowest mortality rate (4 out of 1 million) recorded among all reporting countries.
• Yet, they never banned reusable cups or bags.
• They strongly recommended that customers do not consume food and drinks on-premise.
• Non-profits have issued guidelines on how to continue using reusables safely.

Scientists and Medical Professionals

Take a look at the Greenpeace report signed by over 125 scientists, doctors, and medical professional signatories that prove reusables are not a risk factor if used with care in spreading the novel Coronavirus.

There are still multiple local cafes and even hotels in the US that will allow you to refill your own coffee cup without coming into contact with your lid. For instance, in Maryland, where a ban on reusables wasn’t implemented — local cafes will honor clean reusable mugs by following sanitary practices (they will not take a dirty cup), they rinse the cup in hot water, dry with a paper napkin, and then fill it with coffee ensuring the cup doesn’t come into contact with any shared surfaces or equipment.

The likelihood to spread Coronavirus through take-out and single-use plastics is also high. Think about the number of disposable straws, cups, lids, plates, food containers that have likely come into contact with other people fly around, and overfill trash bins that you need to push around to throw your own trash into.

Plus, we’ve already seen how single-use plastics harm human health. From microplastics leaching into our drinks through cups and lids to chemicals leaching from BPA, BPS, and styrofoams to increased estrogens leached from hot consumables in plastics to a government report that all single-use plastics leaching endocrine disruptors into what we drink and eat.

Covid also recorded a surge in the amount of single-use plastics used in many counties over, given the stay-at-home and order-in reality, amplified by the bans and lack of scalable community reuse solutions. The impact of single-use plastics is not reversible and will be here, literally, forever.

The New Zealand government did something that most governments from the UK to the USA lack — they did their due diligence. They kept the overall big picture in their view, and they provided practical guidelines that worked for their country.

New Zealand has never banned the use of reusables; they have THE lowest rates of Covid.

The UK and USA have banned reusable, and they have THE highest rates of Covid and Covid mortality rates.

Plus, banning reusables is also harming the economy and cutting the momentum behind the US's innovation in space. Before Covid, the US worked on ground-breaking solutions such as hosting entire significant music events with reusables with rCup, there were companies promoting the use of reusable for take-out foods and beverages like Dig, Just Salad, and Blue Bottle, and companies providing solutions for entire communities to switch to reusable cups for take-out and delivery with companies like Vessel Works, CupClub, and Usefull. The bans on reusables also meant banning these businesses' opportunities to grow and flourish — leaving numerous blue-collar people unemployed.

Perhaps it’s time we admit we’re tackling the wrong things. We’re causing ourselves to go back years in research and effort without proven cause only to follow lobbyist’s self-serving, short-sighted interests. The bans are serving lobbyists while continuing the harm on human health as well as the environment, the planet, and subsequently future generations.

Think about it — in the US. We have bars and restaurants that provide reusables for dine-in even now. Whether you’re sitting on a patio or indoors, you’re served your beer in a glass and your food on a porcelain plate. These items get washed and sanitized per code as required by the health department. For decades these practices have prevented the spread of all diseases, not just Covid.

Using a reusable cup — most of us who use reusable cups are the first ones to remove the lid. We wash our reusables at least once a day, if not multiple times in between uses. The non-profit Clean Water Action has Guidelines for safely using Reuse during Covid.

These were never concerns. We’re basically saying Covid can’t be spread if you’re dining in and using reusables but can be spread by your reusable bags and cups that don't ever contact others?

Covid doesn’t have to be an opportunity for the industry to win and the planet to lose — by making the right decisions and choices, we can flip this overnight — remove the bans on reusables, reduce the burden on trash collectors and recyclers, as well as our own health, the environment, and planet.

What to do?

We need to keep our focus on priorities all in our sight. To have healthy humans we need a healthy planet and to have a healthy planet we need healthy practices.

We can immediately reduce our use of single-use plastics — especially the mandated kinds. Anybody willing to take a reusable cup to the cafe should be able to fill or refill following healthy practices. These practices aren’t rocket science. They were being safely followed by multiple chain businesses as well as local small mom and pop shops.

Governments can publish and support reusable guidelines just like in New Zealand. Aside from the obvious environmental benefits, growing the reusable industry creates new jobs for entrepreneurs and also blue-collar workers — dishwashers, drivers, logistics experts etc. Creating new jobs reduces the economic burden on communities.

And for a very immediate result — we all can be more careful and sparing about using single-use plastics. Whether they are bottles or coffee-cups. They are scientifically harmful to human health. If you DO have to use single-use anything please be sure to dispose of them properly and avoid placing them into an overflowing bin. The earth is ours. We only have one planet and we’re all in it together.

Bottomline

It’s time we continue to keep the good of the planet as well as long-term human health, in our view. We’re now aware of all the harm our conveniences and inconsiderate actions caused (and is causing) Mother Earth — from plastics on all the world’s beaches to tangled up turtles and other marine mammals, we see, we know. There’s a reason we chose to steer clear from throwaway and single-use culture. There have been years of studies, experiments, and applications to prove that reuse is no harm to human health — not even close to the harm plastics cause in the short and long term to our health and our planet.

Make sure to have your reusable cup and bags whenever you leave the house. Read up on the topic as knowledge is power. Passion is our compass to hope that leads to purposeful action. Reusable bags and cups aren’t a threat to spreading Covid; they are a helping hand for the planet.