Earth day is upon us. I think this is the first time in many years that Earth is getting what it deserved. Kind of a break from us. Due to COVID 19, a lot of countries put a restriction on travel and advised people to stay home. That means less gas emission, which already proved to be helping the planet with self-healing. I know pandemic was easier on me with my eco-friendly lifestyle. The question is are we, in general, creating more garbage with all these online deliveries and packaged food that we would not buy otherwise.

Are we creating more waste than necessary?

Talk about all the disposables we use these days. Some waste is necessary. For example, the disposing of masks in hospitals is essential to keep healthcare workers safe, but do we need to do that at the household level? Wiping high traffic surfaces with alcohol wipe is necessary, but do we need to use them in our house? Can we replace that with a spray bottle of 1 part bleach and 9 part water and a towel? We do bring groceries home, and we need to disinfect everything. Do we need to use a wipe or can we spend a little more time and wash everything with good old soap and water? Let’s face it; we have the time.

I think now more than ever; we need to stick with reusables as much as we can. We are all sitting home doing our best to help flatten the curve. Let’s make sure we are not surging some other curve. Be more cautious about how we disinfect and try to use as much reusable as we can. Watch what we are doing in our household and how we can make the Earth a better place, even with a pandemic going on.

A few tweaks to reduce our waste during the pandemic:

• Buy ingredients and make the meal yourself. Most meal helpers come with a lot of packaging. Making a meal from scratch keeps you busy longer and gives you more satisfaction anyways.
• Shop online from package free stores. If you can, they deliver in reusable containers that you can either use at home or return and get your deposit back.
• Use those plastic grocery bags as garbage bags, don’t just dispose of them. If you are worried that the bag might be contaminated, turn them inside out, or leave them in another bag for two weeks then use them.
• If you can buy food in glass or aluminum jars, they get recycled better than plastic
• Disinfect with either soap and water or spray of 1 part bleach and 9 part water dry off with a clean towel instead of using disposable alcohol wipes. Just make sure to wash and dry the towel well afterwards.

Is pandemic easier on an eco-friendly lifestyle?

In the light of pandemic and shortage of toilet paper, paper towels and diapers, I realized how lucky I am that I’m not worried about these items. It even didn’t enter my mind that these could be essential products.

Well, I don’t have a diaper-wearing child, but if I had because I would be using reusable diapers, the shortage would not affect me. Paper towels did not cross my mind at all. Last time we bought paper towels was a year or maybe two years ago. We use toilet paper, I have teenagers in the house, and I’m not going to traumatize them with alternative, as a kid, I lived with the alternative, and I didn’t like it. But we have an understanding in our house that we are not to waste material in our household, so we only use the minimum we need for anything.

My point is, the pandemic and all the things that come with it most likely are easier on the eco-friendly lifestyle. People who use reusable, make homemade meals, are cautious of what they use, and how much they use in their household. Now we just need to get everyone else to think that way too. Would you? Would you change your habits to make your life easier and help the planet at the same time?