“We might begin to replace some of the consumption that drives every environmental challenge we face.”
— Bill Mckibben
For many of us, the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected routine day to day lifestyles. Social distancing limits the amount of time we can spend outside enjoying nature and all its beauties. I miss living a few steps away from the beach and the sense of comfort it brought me when I was stressed out. It can become so easy for me to almost forget about the outside world, and somewhat almost be fearful of it. Being at home for so long really puts me on edge; never knowing when I can go back to tanning and relaxing just makes me anxious. By staying indoors, however, I try to remember to be grateful for our inhabitable planet by giving back to it in little ways. With more time to practice these eco-conscious behaviors, I can have larger feelings of satisfaction and positivity to distract myself from worry and anxieties and work towards a climate-friendly future, and so can you!
Start a Garden
Not only is gardening an amazing stress reliever, it is a great way to stay active and healthy in such perilous times. Putting in this care for plants and crops gives me a sense of gratification and is a great long-term hobby that I can continue past this difficult period. Although, through personal experience, you might want to do your fair share of research before starting because you might be murdering the plants instead. Growing your own food helps you reduce pollution, your carbon footprint, and reduce energy costs, so consider getting your quarantine partners to give a helping hand! My family has quite a variety of fruit trees themselves such as guava and orange. But, while being at home with an open garden space, I am working on renovating our backyard to be better suited for crops. After that, I hope I am able to successfully grow tomatoes, strawberries, and other types of produce! I am super excited because springtime is a great time for this process!
Create Eco-Art
If your family is anything like mine, it’s hard to part with material things so it gets stuffed into that part of the house that should be labeled miscellaneous. But, repurposing these items can be a fun way to make something new like jewelry and bags, or anything your imaginative mind can come up with. Recycling these products for further use helps me find a new use out of something that would have ended up in a landfill. You can even incorporate components of nature that are outside your house like leaves, pebbles, pinecones, etc. These innovative art projects can help a family use their creative thinking skills to connect with the environment.
Try a Plant-Based Recipe
Cooking and baking is a personal favorite hobby of mine; I love indulging in new flavors and aromas in my home. Being at home is the best time to try new plant-based recipes with your family as I can eat delicious food and reduce your carbon footprint. Learning new recipes can sometimes also be secondary, in most cases you can just find substitutes for old traditional family favorites. Starting a cookbook of these new recipes is also a hobby that I have picked up along with this one. On top of this, (if you thought that wasn’t enough), I am learning how to properly store and preserve foods to minimize overall food waste in your home. Having an Indian background, many of my family dishes are already vegetarian or vegan, but I push any form of meat and dairy alternatives that are best suited for our dishes.
Cut Down on Plastic
Cutting down plastic can be difficult to do right off the bat, the best way to start is by monitoring what plastic you use daily. By learning how much plastic is consumed, it makes it easier to decide which ones are essential versus non essential. Using plastic utensils and foam plates is convenient so you don’t have to wash dishes, not for the planet! After deciding on what to cut out, I check if the plastic I am using can be replaced with a more sustainable brand. Personally, when shopping for groceries, I try to limit the use of plastic bags for produce unless it becomes unhygienic, and pick produce off the shelves than the ones in plastic packaging. On top of that, I limit my use of paper towels and single-use disinfecting wipes and switch to a reusable, washable cloth and a multi-use spray. Remember to wash your reusable masks!
What will the COVID-19 Pandemic Teach Us About the Climate Emergency?
In a sense, we have already socially distanced ourselves from the climate issues our planet is currently facing. Through the Arts and Lectures Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the Forces of Nature lecture series allowed the community to learn what it means to care for our planet and understand our place as humans in it. Bill Mckibben, a journalist and environmentalist who has written about global warming, shared what global reforms need to take place in order to alleviate the effects of climate change at one of these lecture events. In regards to the coronavirus pandemic, he believes that this can remind people to take scientific facts much more seriously. In fact, many people having to stay indoors is affecting the way they perceive nature. The separation is a chance for awakening and realization on how our actions influence the planet. Skies are clearer from pollution, there is a recurrence of biological diversity in wildlife, and crude oil is so little in value. Personally, I miss going on hikes, tanning at the beach, kayaking, and discovering new wildlife through my independent studies. However, I am glad this is a time where we as a society can gain some beneficial perspectives from these difficult times.
What Being Eco-Friendly Means to Me
As a student pursuing a prospective career in Hydrological Sciences and Policy, conservation and sustainability of our resources is particularly important to me. I wanted to write about this topic because, like everyone else, I am respecting social distancing guidelines and are limited in my outside activities. I cannot give back to my environment through beach cleanups, conservation events, volunteering, and interning for social change. My educational interests beyond online lectures are put at a halt and I still want a way to express my environmental interests, as these activities are some that help with that. I hope that sharing these new ideas that someone who shares my passions, or even those that are looking for new ways to be creative, finds them helpful for their own goals.
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