Make your own face mask—no sewing machine required
Polypropylene bags can do more than carry groceries—they can also be turned into face masks. (Alden Wicker/)As COVID-19 spreads across the United States, hospitals are struggling to keep fully functional while running through their limited supplies of face masks, gowns, and other protective equipment.The Phoebe Putney hospital in Georgia went through six months of supplies in less than a week, Stanford Hospital in California has asked sustainable t-shirt startup For Days to make cotton terry cloth N95 mask covers, and even high-end fashion designers like Christian Siriano have begun making medical-grade masks and gowns.“No one before would have thought of fashion designers or anybody helping with DIY masks,” says Katie Kozel, a medical supply chain consultant in Colorado. “But no one before would have thought of trying to use rain ponchos as isolation gowns either, which we're seeing happen now.”Tutorials for DIY masks have proliferated across social media and the...