To cope with the 2020 outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in Hong Kong, the government subsidized the production of disposable masks and issued ordinances to impose social distancing measures and compulsory mask-wearing in public areas. The NGO Greeners Action conducted an online survey in October with over 1,000 people, and results show that most Hong Kong residents used 7-10 disposable masks a week, which is equivalent to 2 billion disposable masks from February to November. Most of the used masks were transported to landfills.
The letter asks the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to rescind or replace its "free pass to pollute" policy allowing companies to suspend critical health and safety monitoring with no public disclosure during the coronavirus pandemic.The U.S. EPA and Congress should be working to protect communities and workers, not unnecessarily endangering them by making them more vulnerable to disease from toxic pollution in the middle of a global pandemic.
In September, IPEN Participating Organization Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment (AWHHE) celebrated the 20th anniversary of its foundation. Representatives of the Ministries of the Republic of Armenia, international organizations in Armenia, NGOs and foreign guests attended the event, which was held at the Aram Khachaturian House-Museum.
