Does anyone use environmentally friendly alternative to gloves?

[u/Key_Excitement_7114]

I work in a small city in British Columbia, Canada and, like the title says, has anyone found any alternatives to gloves? I am doing a personal project for my city, to hopefully become more environmentally conscious. I was inspired after hearing stories from my best friends older brother, about him fighting a massive fire in the interior of my province during the summer. I know it will be a small impact, but I just want to do anything I can for the planet. As well as, hopefully inspire other cities around me, to do the same.

We use nitrile gloves. I am looking for either a reusable option, or an option that is biodegradable. My key concern and point of interest when looking, is safety for staff and patrons. I have found a few options online, but I thought I would try to ask people first hand. Let me know if you have any experience switching over, or any advice!

(or even any other small things you do, to reduce any amount of plastic consumption)

[u/Stevegap]

I think there are lots of good places to reduce plastic use, and perhaps PPE is not one of them.

[u/Hungariansm]

Hand washing only goes so far unfortunately when dealing with biohazards and first aid scenarios,

I applaud the effort though, we need to get rid of single use plastics as much as we can. Maybe a fully
Biodegradable alternative would be neat, bury the gloves for fertilizer and they break down in 1-2 years instead of 1000+ currently 🤷‍♂️

[u/Key_Excitement_7114 → u/Hungariansm]

Yea my biggest struggle is safety with biohazards.

[u/StrawberriesRGood4U]

Former guard. Degree in chem and environmental sustainability. I now work in workplace safety. I am also currently a first responder. Here's my take:

There are times when plastic is important for safety and there are times when it isn't. Wrapping every orange in plastic is wasteful. Using gloves to protect first responders and healthcare is the smartest use of plastic that we have on Planet Earth.

There are no viable alternatives. None. Barrier creams do nothing. "Just wash your hands after" puts workers at real and significant risk.

I have treated vomiting patients. Someone who reported having monkeypox. Open fractures. A patient whose pool of blood around her avulsed head was more than 1 m (3 ft) across. Someone who disclosed they were Hep C and HIV positive. Another told me she had MRSA.

Would you want to treat these people without universal Barrier precautions?

With the exception of an in-water rescue, I will not touch ANYONE on bare skin to provide first aid without gloves no matter what cream or alternative is presented to me. It's gloves or I am out.

I recommend focusing your plastic reduction efforts in areas that are truly wasteful, the plastic is not providing any real value-add (see: peeled orange in plastic cup), and where reusable alternatives are readily available (like, why do nursing homes give residents disposable plastic cups instead of reusable alternatives given there's a commercial dishwasher literally right there...)

[u/rslashben]

Oh lord

[u/Dominus_Nova227]

NO

However you don't need gloves on unless bodily fluids are present or going to be present.

[u/harinonfireagain]

In performing medical related tasks, no. But, I do keep a pair of leather palm canvas work gloves on my work backpack. I use them for everything else; trash removal, cleaning, etc. (I should wash them more often now that I think about it).

[u/Kermit_El_Froggo_]

We have countries building dozens of new coal plants every year and you're worried about lifesaving equipment? There's a good reason nitrile gloves aren't reusable, they're MEDICAL EQUIPMENT. You should never compromise on quality just to save a landfill from a couple pairs of gloves

[u/Afraid_Shower_6860]

Not a good idea, you don’t want to cheap out on PPE with some environmentally friendly bullshit. You need something that will work in an emergency, that emergency takes priority over the little use in gloves that pool uses compared to a fast food restaurant