Does the thought of things going back to normal excite you or make you feel a bit icky? For me, it’s the latter. Sure, it will be great to have the freedom to go to pubs and other social events, but switching back to how everything was before makes my heart sink. To be honest, I never really liked the old normal and have enjoyed many aspects of the Covid-19 restrictions.
You may have heard how lock-downs around the world have reduced greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution due to the reduction in transport, travel and industrial output. There has also been a general improvement in air and water quality around the world from human inactivity. These outcomes are wonderful, and I hope we all appreciate how beneficial these changes have been to all life on the planet. However, there have also been some negative impacts from the virus which have harmed the environment even more than usual.
In saying that, here are some Corona habits to keep, and kick, post shutdown:
Habits to kick
1. The return to single-use items
The day I turned up at my coffee shop with my re-usable coffee cup and got told the restrictions meant they could only use disposable cups, I knew single-use items would be the standard everywhere. From takeaway food containers to rubber gloves and face masks, single-use items have gone hand-in-hand with the pandemic.
Environmentalists around the world had worked so hard to get people switching to reusable items, and were finally getting some traction when the virus struck. Making reusable items the norm again is going to set us back years. Single-use items are bad news. They generate mass waste and destroy our oceans. It’s important we make the shift back to reusable products as soon as we can when this is all over.
2. A blatant disregard for animal life and their habitats
The virus started infecting humans when wild animals carrying the virus (captured in their natural habitats) were sold for meat and eaten. Not only do such practices destroy entire ecological systems, they demonstrate society’s attitude to the natural world – take whatever you want, at whatever cost. This is simply not a sustainable standpoint.
We are not the most important species on the planet. Apparently we’re the most intelligent (but who would wreck the planet they depended on for survival if they were so intelligent?), but not the most important. We need our ecosystems to function as designed in order for them to support us. It’s time we smarten up and start treating the environment with some respect.
3. Chemicals, chemicals and more chemicals
Sure, sanitisation in a pandemic is important. But let’s not forget the harmful impacts the overuse of chemicals can have on the natural world. If a chemical can kill a virus, it sure as shit can kill beneficial organisms, flora and fauna. I’m not suggesting we don’t use sanitiser, but we do need to be responsible users and ensure whatever we consume does not have unintended consequences on the environment.
Habits to Keep
1. Spending more time in nature
It has been so wonderful seeing so many people outdoors exercising and spending time with family. The more time we spend in nature, the more we understand about it, gain and affinity for it, and want to protect it. Not to mention all the health benefits we gain whilst doing it! If I could do one thing to get society to care more about the environment, it would be to get everyone to spend more time outside enjoying it.
2. Shopping for the sake of shopping/consumerism
Have you noticed that you haven’t needed to buy much besides food during lock-down? It’s a good reminder that we don’t actually need a continual stream of new clothes or the latest and greatest electronic. I recently saw a meme that read something like ‘It’s a bad sign when economies collapse because people are just buying what they actually need’. That really hit home for me.
Excessive buying is what we’ve all become accustomed to. Let’s snap out of it so we can reduce waste and start spending our money on more soul fulfilling endeavours (like experiences rather than physical items). This will make the planet, and ourselves much happier.
3. Staying local and buying local
Having restrictions on how far we can travel has forced us to look close to us for everything we need. Staying local means we use less fuel to get around, while also spending our money locally. Buying local means less transport for the items we buy. It’s a win for the environment and the community!
After all this is over, we need to keep the focus on improving environmental health. We all know the catastrophic forecast if we don’t. Human life (as well as many other forms of biota) will cease to exist.
What changes have you seen in our environmental impacts since lock-down?