Vancouver runner finds purpose picking up masks on the city streets

VANCOUVER (CityNews) — Ever since wearing masks became part of the “new normal” ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic, Vancouver’s David Papineau has been collecting bags full of discarded face coverings during his daily runs.

On shorter runs he covers between 10 and 20 kilometres, collecting between 50 and 100 masks.

On the weekends, he covers more grounds and picks up more masks — his record being 260 in one day.

“Initially it started out of curiosity, now it’s a sense of purpose,” he explains.

“It’s been tough the last year. It’s gotten me out the door, we haven’t had races all year so it gives my runs some purpose.”

He does allow for the possibility that masks aren’t being tossed on the streets on purpose — but he does notice some spots have more litter than others.

“I want to give people the benefit of the doubt but there’s a lot of accidental drops,” he says.

“Alongside school yards, on side streets, bus stops…I find a lot around there.”

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Metro Vancouver Regional District doesn’t keep track of personal protective equipment littered on streets.

But recently, the district reported on just how many masks, gloves, and wipes ended up in the waste stream.

“What we found was 528 million pieces of PPE disposed of in the garbage,” senior project engineer, Terry Fulton, explains, adding that amounts to about 0.5 per cent of overall waste.

RELATED: Metro Vancouver residents threw out 518 million items of PPE last year

When that report was issued, Fulton said the regional district encourages people to consider reusable options.

Although, he recognizes some people in some situations will opt for a single-use item.

“We recognize there might be some situations where there may be a preference for disposable, and obviously the priority here is keeping the spread of the virus low, but we do encourage the use of reusable masks and gloves where possible,” he said.

“The issue isn’t really them ending up in the garbage, the issue is when they end up in the environment. We really want to encourage residents to not dispose of them on the ground, but to bag them, bin them, put them in the garbage, and keep them out of our environment.”