Could this be the virus that saves our environment?

These are stressful times. Whether you’re worried about actually getting sick, or anxious about the imminent economic recession that is already underway, it can be difficult to see a silver lining.

As a nomadic freelancer and small business owner, I, along with so many others, have had to rethink my strategy of where I’ll live and how I’ll make a steady income with so much uncertainty still on the horizon.

But this health pandemic isn’t the only crisis we’re juggling.

The climate crisis has entered a whole new stage, reaching tipping points that will alter parts of our Earth’s system irreversibly. Long story short, we’re passing the point of no return.

But we’ve known this for a while. So why hasn’t anything changed?

We need to reach social tipping points before we reach a planetary one. We need to flip what is ‘normal’ on its head. Our social and emotional framing of what happens on a day-to-day basis at the local level can alter our political and financial systems.

Think of it this way; the human race needs to push a giant boulder that is rolling down a mountain, back up the mountain. But we’re only strong enough to do it collectively, and it will require us to be okay with a certain level of discomfort. It’ll require us to do not only what’s feasible, we’ll need to push ourselves beyond what we think is ‘enough’.

We need to create synergies all around the world to start these tipping effects (or collective boulder pushing!) and COVID19 might have helped us do just that.

Here’s why:

1. A slowdown in travel

With flight restrictions, new travel bans and the general fear around being stuck in an enclosed and potentially infected tube in the sky for hours on end, the travel industry in general is obviously taking a hit. But reducing the number of flights is one of the few surefire ways to curb emissions. A one-way flight across the Atlantic from New York City to London emits one ton of carbon dioxide per passenger and there are upward of 2,500 flights over the North Atlantic every day. That is, until the past couple of weeks.

Businesses are also reconsidering how meetings are held, with IBM announcing last Wednesday that it’s putting a stop to all domestic travel for internal meetings.

The company even morphed its ‘Think 2020 developer conference’ to a ‘digital’ event. And IBM isn’t the only one. Companies big and small are rethinking what is truly necessary and becoming much more creative about the alternatives. This social shift can be major in its positive impact on the environment and may be the proof large businesses needed that quick and effective change is indeed possible (when your life depends on it).

The virus has also tested our abilities to work from home. Though conservative corporate cultures around the world are having to stretch beyond their comfort zones, this necessary experiment could change how we think about work, and work/life balance. In a recent BBC article, Sun Meng, a 32-year-old designer in Beijing was candid about the change, saying “the best thing about home working is that her son doesn’t have to wait until late in the evening to see her.”

2. Alternative buying habits

Empty shelves in pharmacies and supermarkets where hand sanitizer and toilet paper used to sit, are arguably the result of mass panic. But the scarcity of these products has forced us to explore much more sustainable alternatives.

Making your own hand sanitizer is easy and effective, as long you make sure you get the proportions right. People have been actively sharing bulk recipes to refill their empty bottles, but since writing this article, even the ingredients have run out on store shelves. It’s just another reason to remind each other that going back to basics with soap and water works best. If only we could just as easily switch to the same mentality for the rest of our plastic-packaged favorites like creams and shampoos.

When it comes to toilet paper, we tend to forget that each roll comes from our forests. Even though some brands are substituting virgin pulp, the Analysis from Ethical Consumer magazine found that major brands are now using less recycled paper than in 2011. We are literally flushing our forests down the toilet. But only 30% of the world’s population uses toilet paper in the first place and has found perfectly hygienic alternatives.

Though it’s uncommon in the Western bathroom culture, using a bidet (toilet attachment that uses water to clean your behind) is old news for much of the rest of the world. And its popularity isn’t just about being sustainable in the washroom, it avoids clogging toilets, and is inexpensive, and can feel…a lot cleaner. With the lack of toilet paper rolls to be found, many in the West are finally considering the alternative, with direct-to-consumer bidet startups entering the spotlight, like the New York based company, Tushy.

3. Making less and buying fewer non-essentials

‘Buy local’ has been an overused slogan in the sustainable consumption space, but has new interesting merits now that manufacturing globally has slowed down and in some cases, come to a halt. Almost everything we buy relies on a decentralized system, produced in one country, manufactured in the next, and flown thousands of miles to be sold in your local store.

Fast fashion brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Urban Outfitters are losing sales due to a major decline in foot traffic, missed shipments, and slowdown of production. All in all, it’s sounding like the necessary shift that organizations like Fashion Revolution, the world’s largest fashion activism movement have been advocating for.

The slowdown in manufacturing in China due to the virus has ‘wiped out a quarter or more of the country’s CO2 emissions over the past four weeks based on CarbonBrief’s recent article. The evidence is even clear from space, as NASA maps show a drastic clearing of the skies above China, where a reduction in pollution levels has been correlated to the measures taken to reduce the spread of the virus. Though production won’t halt forever, could this be the reminder we need that slowing down is possible and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, within reach? Slowing down on a massive scale, whether we like it or not, could be the shift we profoundly needed.

Without sugarcoating, the economic slowdown is scary, to say the least. Despite the positive effects this may be having in the long run on the environment, this shift is likely to cause mass migrations of people who have lost work, countries dependant on the flow of tourism, and so many industries relying on China-centric supply chains. Regardless, this could be the start of a more resilient and diversified approach to our everyday lives, reacquainting ourselves with the things we take for granted.

What’s important here is to show each other that change IS possible, even when it comes only in dire times like these. Convincing someone to stop using toilet paper or persuading your boss to schedule fewer international business trips can sound challenging. Let’s use this time to adopt new frames of mind because showing others what is possible changes and modifies the landscape for what is made possible to begin with.