We are always told to look for the positives in any situation and possibly the only good thing that has come from the horror story that is ‘The Virus That Took Over the World’ is that our planet has had a little time to breath again. Of course even if we continue to have these restrictions for the rest of the year, this would only be a milli-second in the life of planet earth but already dramatic changes have been documented across the world.
COVID 19 has dramatically changed the life of planet earth and these changes have been documented across the world. In New York pollution is down by 50%, NO2 emissions have been seen to fade away across Europe and it has been reported that in China some people have seen blue sky for the first time in years.
Of course we would be naïve to think, after the crisis has passed that this will continue but as a race we should be striving to try and ensure we don’t fall back into all of our old ways. There could be the opportunity for businesses to allow more staff to work from home and people may consider car sharing a more viable option and after being confined to their home soil, many people have seen the beauty that their own town has to offer which could spur more to seek holidays in the country that they live in. Even these baby steps could see a drastic difference in the environmental impact of our every day lives.
Yesterday was Earth Day – an opportunity for us to take stock and give some thought to this beautiful planet that we live on but really shouldn’t we spare a thought every day? I think especially now more than ever we can concentrate on making small changes to the way we live that will ultimately benefit the planet. Re-evaluating the packaging on groceries that we buy, getting out in to the community to do a litter pick, making that conscious effort to recycle at home and encouraging our kids to get creative with things we would usually through away - the list goes on! ICCM has made an earth day waste challenge activity for 1 week only (please see the document attached). Post your creative ideas across the world to Africa and obtain an ICCM COVID 19 interactive waste education pack to recycle, reuse and reduce your waste while on lockdown.
So with this in mind, I am off to plant some chilli’s and courgettes in my garden … what are you going to do?!...