How to resume our lives after the coronavirus break?

The Coronavirus pandemic has taken over the world, it has done something which the world had not seen in the near past. It has practically stopped the world. It has forced people to stay inside their houses during the coronavirus break.

Industrial operations in the coronavirus hot spot ground to a halt and travel restrictions all over the world meant that air, rail, and road traffic were paused or scaled back across some regions. There is a dramatic drop off in the pollution level of many countries. There has been a significant positive impact, climate-wise, in several countries like China, Italy, the USA, etc.

“In this short lockdown or quarantine situation, the cloud of nitrogen dioxide that was parked over China in January seemed to evaporate in February. NASA scientists said that similar emissions reductions have been observed in other countries during economic disruptions but that the sharp decrease in air pollution in China during the quarantine period was especially rapid. Pollution levels have similarly decreased over Italy, which has become the center of the coronavirus pandemic outside China.”

Nitrogen dioxide over #China has dropped with the coronavirus quarantine, Chinese New Year, and a related economic slowdown. https://t.co/URfLNy0GZJ #NASA #COVID2019 pic.twitter.com/PM60uL772K

— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) March 4, 2020

“In Venice, the often polluted canals recently began to get clearer, with fish visible in the water. Italy’s efforts to limit the coronavirus meant an absence of boat traffic on the city’s famous waterways. “

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/coronavirus-shutdowns-have-unintended-climate-benefits-n1161921

But this is going to end soon. The world will once again start over. It is like hitting the refresh button so we have to start most of the things from scratch. Right here, we have a chance to consider something which we had not considered in this madly growing world. We have a chance to rectify our mistakes, how we ignored the climate changes, how we were so ignorant towards the quality of the air we were breathing.

So how to resume our lives after the coronavirus break?

We could start more responsibly. We could do our daily routine tasks with a greener approach. Below is a list of basic things that you can do:

• Try to take public transport more frequently. It’s the best thing we can do. Using private vehicles means using more fuel which emits more pollution. Using public transports or carpooling could take us a long way.
• We can use renewable energy more.  Installing solar panels on our terrace or garden is one of the options; it could help reduce carbon footprints and could also save you a lot of money in the long run. Consider buying an electric vehicle soon.
• Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. As much as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes into heating the water.
• Don’t flush away plastics; trillions of tiny pieces of plastic accumulate in the world’s oceans, lakes, and estuaries, harming marine life and entering the food chain. Which brings us to the next point,
• Go paperless and recycle more; the majority of everyday household items, from aerosols to toner cartridges and white goods, can now be recycled at local authority amenity sites. Try to keep most of your documents digitally safe to avoid paper usage. Pay all of your bills online. This will not only save you time but will also help to reduce paper wastage.
• When in office, turn off all the peripherals such as printers, speakers and scanners when not in use.
• Eat Less Meat. Believe it or not, cutting back on your consumption of meat can make a huge difference in the environment. More than 30 percent of the Earth’s surface is being used to raise and support livestock. Consider replacing some of your meat-heavy meals with vegetables or eating more seafood!
• Take the stairs instead of using the lifts wherever possible.
• Opt for a reusable water bottle or travel mug. Reduce plastic cups and bottle waste by carrying your own portable water bottle or coffee thermos. Some coffee shops even give a discount to those who bring their own mug, so you’ll be saving money while you save the environment.

These are basic steps that we can apply in our day to day life after we resume our lives after the Coronavirus break has ended.