We should think about our choices as lockdown eases
After a year of solitary, family or care-home confinement imposed on millions of us across the country, there is a lot of pent-up energy waiting to be released tomorrow. This is when the government further relaxes lockdown restrictions – this time to allow us to meet a limited number of friends and family outdoors at cafes, restaurants and pubs.
But in the midst of the excitement of meeting loved ones again, a key question will be whether we will apply
the lessons we’ve learnt from ignoring the warnings of the pandemic to the dire warnings we’ve had for years on the climate and ecological crises. If you want to be warm outdoors, then layer up with clothes; don’t turn your garden into an “outdoor living room” with fossil fuel-burning patio heaters. Instead, go for a walk or cycle with friends, or go to a local pub that has the right kind of outdoor heating.
Many pubs no longer have disastrously wasteful gas-powered patio-heaters, which emit truckloads of carbon emissions and fail miserably to warm people as they heat the constantly moving air. These have been largely replaced by infrared electric heaters, which heat people directly instead of the air, and use about 3kW rather than the 13kW consumed by gas patio-heaters.
If the pub is signed up to a green electricity tariff such as Good Energy or Ecotricity, its heating will be even more carbon-neutral – check with your pub before you visit.
There has been much coverage of how the lockdown has heightened the value we put on nature, and of public support for the government to implement a green recovery plan.
Sadly, governments have still poured billions into propping up the old fossil-fuelled economy, and making negative contributions to the global green recovery process. But what about the public? In a recent survey by Aviva Insurance, 52 per cent of people said they were more environmentally conscious than before the pandemic. Bizarrely, though, the survey also indicated that this was not translating into more eco-friendly lifestyle choices. Many of us are taking fewer green steps than we were in December 2019.
There are two food resolutions that can really make a difference. Radically reduce the amount of meat and dairy you consume, and buy as much organic produce as you can afford
Aviva found that the number of people turning down the thermostat at home had sunk from 59 per cent in 2019 to 27 per cent in 2021. The percentage of people reducing the consumption of meat in their household fell from 32 per cent to 21 per cent in the same time-frame, and the percentage of those recycling via local bin collections was also lower, going from 73 per cent to 52 per cent. The report explained this contradiction by surmising that facilities were unavailable or people had gone into survival mode and changed priorities during lockdown.
The other perplexing result was that older people were more likely to adopt greener choices than young people, with 16- to 24-year-olds the least likely. This is disappointing as it is their generation that will face the existential climate consequences if we fail to act. In the report, 73 per cent of older people recycled, compared with 26 per cent of younger people.
In addition, 38 per cent of older people had reduced their car usage, compared with just 14 per cent of younger people. And only 22 per cent of young people were avoiding one-use plastics, compared with 47 per cent of over-55s. However, younger people were ahead in adopting a vegan diet, with 9 per cent now vegan, compared with just 1 per cent of over-65s.
So, how can we address this as we ease out of lockdown?
With many people getting closer to nature over the past year, we must use this incentive to eat food that protects rather than destroys nature.
There are two food resolutions that can really make a difference. Radically reduce the amount of meat and
dairy you consume, and buy as much organic produce as you can afford. The chemical sprays used on industrially produced non-organic foods are decimating our bees and wildlife. Maybe start by choosing an organic coffee when you meet up with your mates, or support a local organic farmers’ market or restaurant. Many people started growing their own organic food during lockdown, whether it was in their own garden or in an allotment or community garden. Keep it going and make it the habit of a lifetime. And why not celebrate the easing of restrictions by treating your garden or plot to a new fruit tree or fruit shrub?
Non-essential shops are also reopening tomorrow. But a renewed consumerist onslaught won’t help the planet. Instead of rushing to the shops to spend our lockdown savings, how about spending more time with our loved ones, the people we’ve cherished and missed?
Twenty per cent of us are already buying used goods when we need something – another resolution could be to always seek a used option for the items we need. Meanwhile, when it comes to holidays, stay closer to home and go flight-free.
The severity of the climate and ecological crises dwarfs the Covid pandemic, and from tomorrow socially distanced protests will be allowed again. There is a huge need for people to peacefully support climate protection.
So, enjoy the freedoms gradually being restored, but make good eco-choices and consider the impacts these privileges have on our climate and future generations.