THE ENVIRONMENTAL UPSIDES TO THE EVERYTHING ELSE DOWNSIDES
It's week ? of quarantine... but, it's Earth Day today! So, I come from a background in biological sciences which I put to use for over 10 years as an environmental advisor to many companies in various industries on how they could be more sustainable, be more 'green' and do more for the communities they operate in. Overall, how be more responsible for the sake of our planet. With our current situation leaving the planet on pause, it really got me thinking that there must be an environmental silver-lining to all this!
If we take a minute to focus solely on the environmental impacts this pandemic has had, we can see some major shifts... With our lives being put on pause, in turn, commuting, travel, manufacturing and processing has also all been put on pause. Naturally, taking out some of the polluting actions of human life, some positive environmental effects have been documented already! For instance people in Northern India are seeing a view of the Himalayan mountains for the first time in their lives due to the drop in air pollution. Various European cities including, Paris and Madrid, all have seen a reduction in average levels of nitrogen dioxide from March 14-25 when compared with the same period year year! The drop in boat traffic in Venice, Italy has resulted in cleaner waterways, so much so that locals are reporting seeing shoals of fish and even some dolphins. Across the world, the lockdowns have shown us how quickly the planet can adapt and thrive in our absence when given some time to pause.
...the planet can adapt and thrive in our absence when given some time to pause.
Thanks to the request of one of our amazing retailers Kamomile Holistic Haven to write a piece for their blog on Earth Day, it got me thinking how even little changes everyday can help keep this positive environmental effect going once life does return to normal. I will include the ones I came up with for them below:
1. Making your own coffee at home or bringing in a reusable coffee cup to your fave cafe.
2. Cooking at home and reducing takeout waste or choosing restaurants that use eco-friendly takeout packaging. If consumers are asking for it, restaurants will happily adjust their practices.
3. Eat and buy local to help reduce transportation pollution. Remember that each purchase you make, you are basically voting for what you accept as the standard!
4. If you have the space, plant some gardens that help out our bee populations. Bees are vital as they are the number one pollinator of our food crops!
5. If you can't give up meat and dairy (I love cheese too!), try reducing your intake because about 5.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides is emitted in our environment from the industry.
If you think you that one person cannot possibly make a difference, remember that every little action of good adds up to an even bigger reaction, that then sums up to a change for the better! So let's make everyday Earth Day by being more conscience of our actions and remember to reduce, reuse, recycle :)
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