Keeping Sustainability Habits in a Pandemic

With the COVID-19 outbreak around the world, many of our daily habits have been turned upside down. We’ve all been impacted by COVID in some form or another, and I believe it’s just the beginning of more calamities to come but as my favorite artist, Trevor Hall, sings “the fruitful darkness is all around us.” The only way we can overcome the darkness is by confronting it and transforming it into something beautiful. 

Why not take this time to reflect on our relationship with Earth and with those around us. How can we use this time to realign our purpose in life and live a more conscious and sustainable lifestyle? 

Support Local Businesses

Think about where the bulk of your shopping comes from. In times of lockdowns and crisis like we are living today, we don’t have the luxury to be buying cheap goods from other countries across the world. An interruption to the global supply chain has affected what’s actually available to us, and it’s made us stop to reflect on the importance of shopping locally and supporting our small businesses around us. Consider adopting a lifestyle of conscious consumerism rather than excess shopping and switch to healthier products by purchasing locally sourced foods, which also reduce your carbon footprint! 

Commute Sustainably

If something good has come from all of this, it’s a decrease in air pollution. In some of the most air polluted cities across the world, we’ve seen drastic improvements in air quality because of everyone working from home, cruises cancelled, and airports closed. As businesses, borders, and flights continue to open back up, let’s consider commuting to work and in life and general more sustainably. Bike or walk to work, take the bus or metro. Pitch to your team the idea of working from home a couple of days of the week. 

make your own products

With hygiene products flying off the shelves, why not learn how to make your own products that are better for the environment and your body? Here’s an Eco-friendly Hand Sanitizer recipe I like that actually works. Learning how to make your products at home can also help the isolation time pass quicker and distract your mind from all the COVID chaos.

Stop hoarding bottled water

There is no need to stock up on bottled water. If  clean water continued to arrive at homes in Wuhan, China the center of the Corona outbreak, then it will continue to arrive here. But if you're still concerned about water facilities going down and the uncertainty of access to clean and safe drinking water, purchase a life straw or invest in a water filtration system for your home. 

Foster a Community Mindset

Think and act like Jesus would. Love thy neighbor, share your food, and heal each other. We live in a very disconnected and individualistic world. Use this time of social isolation to build sustainable relationships, even if it’s online for now. We can’t continue to live as if we are the only ones in this world, the more disconnected we are, the more chaos we create. Our purpose in life is to spread happiness, love, joy, and peace. Start now, create your communities and foster strong relationships, nothing great has ever been accomplished alone.

If we all adopted some of these sustainable habits during and after this pandemic outbreak, we will become much stronger and more resilient. 

This global lock-down has really made me reminisce on my time living in France. My community of friends in Angers were so united and self-sufficient. They took care of each other, took friends in during times of need, made their own foods with all local ingredients or produce from their backyard, canned their own foods during the winter months. They even made their own everyday products like furniture and house decorations.

I can’t help but think about these impact communities around the world during times like these. We will be just fine if we unite, live a little more self-sufficient, purchase more locally, and sustain strong community bonds.

Our question to ourselves is how will we use this pandemic to improve our lives around us? This is an opportunity to realign our lives and help heal the planet by choosing to live more consciously. What choices will you make to pave the path for your future?