What is minimalism? And its Relation with Sustainability

 Minimalism is about owning less stuff, about owning less. But it's actually far more than that when you start to study it. We live in the world of social media where we see 1000 plus advertisements every single day, and every advertisement calls for our attention and it calls for our affection. Minimalism is about rejecting those advertisement messages and taking back control of our own lives and being loyal with our time and our money, and our energy. We need to renegotiate the thought of minimalism the term was originally conceived in the late 1950s. The ability to choose less today minimalism has become and then point towards a minimalist lifestyle that moves away from aesthetics and into politics ultimately minimalism has promised for socio-economic and environmental reasons. But we need to understand that its current state is more than a continuation of consumer culture than a movement toward an environmentally and materially conscious society. The trend of minimalism has inspired a lot of people in recent years. Somehow it has become the inverse of what it was trying to be now for certain minimalists. The lifestyle means a firmly selected wardrobe of expensive clothes in an aesthetic of white while using minimalist as a style. Take for example the buy less but buy better attitude that is encroach minimalism. Yes, buying a $500 pair of shoes might in some cases be more environmentally friendly than buying four sets of $60 shoes because the pricier shoes will most likely last longer and produce minor waste than four pairs. However, most people don't have the money for that so this minimalist philosophy uses the excuse of having little to buy the most expensive things perhaps minimalists are purchasing less. But they are still buying into the idea of creating status through expensive items thus if you don't have the means or the money to rid yourself of your belongings and purchase just the right things then minimalism must not be for you. 

The new trend of minimalism as a visual aesthetic has now been merged with a surge of self-optimization by using the right technology and paring down your life in the right way minimalism can portably deliver happiness financial security and free time to those who follow its path, unfortunately, it can only be viewed as a key to happiness by those who already have more than enough for low-income people buying Inexpensive clothing or owning less furniture isn't a choice Its structural reality minimalism. However, it can offer so much more than a stylistically slimmed-down wardrobe it can instead mean a purposefully anti-consumerist and environmentally aesthetic lifestyle that works against the power of capitalism. The focus with minimalism then is not necessarily working to edit your daily choices and activewear down to the cream of the crop but instead on working hard to critically check your consumption choices. Day to day this looks like choosing not to buy the latest hundreds-dollar iPhone or if you are cleaning out your wardrobe choosing not to sell your clothes if you don't need the money and instead donating them to a progressive organization if you do in fact need to get a new pair of pants to consider buying secondhand the idea is to know that consumption feeds a system that affects overwhelming harm on the environment and marginalized people minimalism can offer guidance, not as a stylistic choice. But as a mindset that helps reroute our unconscious purchasing habits into a well-informed consumption critical stance. Minimum has slowly grown more popular so it's important to remember that as an aesthetic trend and a way to find happiness minimalism can sometimes be just another tricky form of conspicuous consumption. As a pro-environment list and anti-consumption choice, however, minimalism can offer a way to guide us along the route of an economic system that constantly pressures us to buy more. Having and buying less do not need to be status symbols or the subject of a social media post, they can instead be radical political and environmental acts. Of course, this needs to be done in a balanced way and without giving up your comfort.

Is Online Shopping Sustainable?

 It is important to look at the exact effect caused by this new trend of online shopping and instant shipping on climate change. The carbon footprint of online shopping greatly depends on the actions of customers. As shoppers can be divided into several different categories that span from a traditional retail shopper, modern shopper, and cybernaut known shopper who exclusively shop online. Online shopping with lower shipping options has a smaller footprint than driving to a retail store to search purchase and return a product. The highest effect shopper is actually a mix of both ones that go to the store to compare prices and then buy online with quick shipping. The greater number of the reason why traditional shoppers have such a huge footprint is that they are using cars to reach brick-and-mortar shops. The Cybernaut as for the who shop online when they choose shipping options like two-day mailing, they are more than doubling their transportation-related emissions especially within the last couple of years. Companies like Amazon started to send vans out to deliver packages that are only half full to fulfill customer expectations this ultimately means more emissions because trucks and vans have to make numerous trips between homes and hubs as opposed to slower shipping options which fill up trucks with cargo and make a single trip to fill orders.

Packaging Waste

Packaging also has a significant role to play when it comes to environmental impact often when you select the overnight shipping option the products that you want aren't bundled together in the same box because they are usually coming from two different facilities across the country, as a result, you receive a new cardboard box for every product you buy and the carbon emissions of products are on average 35% more. When shipped separately in addition many products are packaged efficiently. Average boxes contain 20% of wasted space which shipping facilities then fill with papers Styrofoam or bubble wrap ultimately creating more waste that finds its way into landfills but there are many choices on both the retail and consumer side that could help lower emissions for companies. Cutting down emissions means digging shoppers towards slower shipping options or making in-store purchases. When appropriate it can also mean bundling items together in one packet or even reducing the amount of packaging for a product by right-sizing its box. But as individuals, we also have choices to make for one if it's possible to find a way to get to your local retail store without using a car you will not only drastically lower your footprint but shopping locally. It also allows you to connect with other people face to face which helps build community resilience in the long run if you don't have that luxury consider using slower shipping choices which allows the online retailer to optimize shipping routes because they don't have to rush to get the item onto your doorstep. This necessarily means fewer miles traveled for trucks and planes because they can fill up with packages and only leave when they are full. Online shopping isn't something to be demonized it's an important resource for people who may not be able to shop in person for several reasons however it's important to think seriously about our individual relationships with online shopping. Think before you shop that an online shopping spree not only has negative consequences for your wallet but it also has lasting effects on the natural world that we have come to rely on.

Online Shopping

A Healthy Diet Plan that Helps to Fight the Climate Change

 Billions of people around the world eat food every day. Food is more than energy whether it is sugar, grease, or carbs. But how big of a problem is what we eat daily? So, we have got these two factors coming together. One is we all need to eat healthier, and on the other side, we need to eat more sustainably because food production and consumption have a footprint on the environment. About 25 percent of all the global climate change problems we are seeing can be associated back to the food and the choices that we are actually making about what we eat daily. This is higher than all of the cars on the planet. In fact, it’s about two folds as much global warming pollution as cars. A lot of people feel really powerless when it comes to climate change like they can’t make a difference. And researches show that your personal decisions can really make a difference. Global food production accounts for 40 percent of land use 30 percent of global gas emissions. So, what a healthy and sustainable, diet looked like. The important thing to remember though is a healthy diet isn't absolutely the same as a sustainable diet. It's not just the foods themselves that might be the issue. It can be the way food is produced and eat.

For example, if you are eating a single serving of beef, you wind up emitting about 330 grams of carbon footprint. That’s like driving a car three kilometers. Now, if you chose to eat chicken instead, there’s more than a five-fold emission drop. Shift to fish and you see the number go below even more. Livestock accounts for a bit over 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If that sort of looks low to you, consider it about compares to transportation. We are taking all the cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships on the planet combined! This is partly because ruminant animals like cows and sheep – they are just gassy! And the methane they produce is at least 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Plus, it takes a lot of fertilizer, land and about a billion tons of grain to feed all that livestock. And you could feed 3 billion people with that grain; if we were just directly eating these grains ourselves, it would eliminate a lot of the CO2 that comes out from cattle production. So, it’s clear that meat has a pretty big carbon footprint, but it’s also worth remembering that not all livestock is raised equally. So, the point is vegan is the way to go for the least impact on the planet, but it’s not that pretty different, in terms of emission. So, fish and chicken a few times a week; meat maybe once a month, plenty of plant-based foods, and of course, loads of olive oil. Exclude off like 90 percent of your meat intake is more important than ignoring all of your meat. We don’t all have to be vegan completely. If we can just reduce our meat intake, every little effort helps. And if you can bring it down a lot, you can help mitigate climate change. Just bringing down your portion size to 4 ounces can reduce your emissions by half. That’s a huge impact! In fact, the doctors are telling us we are eating about twice as much meat as we really need for a healthy diet. The good news is, we are paying attention to our doctors. In the last decade, there’s been a 19 percent decrease in the amount of beef we eat. All these things that you are already being told are good for you also happen to be good for the planet. 

A healthy diet plan includes less meat, less dairy, fewer potatoes, and a lot more plants. However, to be a true converter, you need to pretty much give up meat, chicken and fish and move into nuts, legumes, and seeds. So, what would this diet look like on your plate? Well, around half the plate would be filled with fruit, nuts and veggies. And the other half would have things like whole grains, plant proteins like lentils and beans, some veg, a very small amount of dairy and meat and some plant oils, maybe some control sugars. This diet allows for around two and a half thousand calories each day. If you were following the diet, you could have one boiled egg once a week. Just a glass of milk a day covers all your daily requirements. Globally, the diet means that we need to reduce our consumption of red meat and sugar and double our intake of veg, pulses, nuts and fruits. So, it's not just about the food we eat and the way it's produced. It's also about the way we behave this food. We also want to look at the packaging, for example. Plastic has a bad impact on the environment, but it's lighter than glass and therefore for transport it can have a lower carbon footprint. And also, the volumes of things. So, if you compare, for example, concentrated orange juice to fresh orange juice, because it’s lower volume, you don’t have the transport costs and the environmental footprint of that. Buying seasonally and locally can also make a big difference. All these things that you are already being told are good for you also happen to be good for the betterment of the planet. So, what we eat daily is a big part of the climate puzzle. This means, we may not all be able to afford solar panels on our house, an electric car but we all have to eat every day. And choices we make can add up to really big impacts. And since meat has a pretty big carbon footprint, we need to be thoughtful about how much we eat. We know that in the future, we might have more mouths to feed. If we are going to eat sustainably in the years to come and the decades to come, we are going to have to change the way we eat.

Air Purifying Plants For Your Home

Every human on the earth wakes up to a day and works hard to achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams consistently. As a result of this lavish modern life, people are disconnecting from nature. In the former days, every home is filled with saplings and trees. But now it’s difficult to find a person who has plants in the house due to this busy lifestyle.

The best indoor plants you can get for your home will look beautiful and aesthetic and purify the air in your home, so it's a win-win situation. These plants can take your home to next level and proves that you are a real adult.

Fiddle Leaf Fig

 Let's start with fiddle leaf fig. The fiddle leaf fig is known for its large, glossy-shaped leaves. These fiddle leaf figs love bright and indirect sunlight, and you know when to water it when you wedge your finger in the soil and the top one inch is dry.  Kept a microfiber cloth to wipe any dust off of the leaves, maybe once a week or so, so that the leaves can absorb the sunlight better. Fiddle leaf figs love humidity. If you have a humidifier, you can use that to organize the humidity in your room. The leaves will grow towards the light, so if you want your plant to grow more evenly, you should rotate it whenever you notice the light is. The proper drainage system is also very important to prevent root damage, which is when the roots sit in the water for too long. If you have a pot without holes, then put rocks or pebbles at the bottom of the pot under the soil so that any extra water will flow into the rocks and not remain in the soil.  

Peace Lily

It is a super easy-to-care-for medium-sized plant known for its fresh lily flower and beautiful leaves. One top list of plants that purify the air is known to reduce the levels of toxins in the air. Peace Lilies grow well in shade and cooler temperatures, and they also tolerate low humidity. This makes them good for dry apartments or houses that get less natural lighting.

Snake Plant

Next is the snake plant, also known as "Mother-in-Law's Tongue". These plants are so popular. They have a clean structure, so it goes really well with the minimalist vibe. Snake plants don't require much light or water to survive, so they are great. They basically grow anywhere. They are the best choice for any corner of your home. They are the best air-purifying plants. This plant absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen during the night, while most plants do that during the day, so you could put one in your bedroom for an oxygen boost at night. It also removes the nitrogen and formaldehyde present in the air. Snake plant is the best indoor plant because it takes less space and has low maintenances. 

Golden Pothos

Moving onto the Golden Pothos, also known as "Devil's Ivy". Best recommended indoor plant in every home. These are fast-growing decorative plants, so they are good for hanging pots. But if you don't want to hang them, you can also put them on a rack and let the leaves hang down. Or put them on a table and let the leaves overflow over onto the table. These cute, heart-shaped leaves and the different varieties of variegated leaves, which means the marbling on the leaf. It's so beautiful. It also improves the circulation of oxygen in your home.

Chines Evergreen

Next is the Chinese Evergreen plant with its beautiful leaves. It is very easy to take care of these plants. They grow in low light and will grow in places where other plants won't grow. Because they are tropical plants and they do like humid air. So, if your home air is too dry, their tips might start turning brown, so you want to mist the leaves occasionally. They also do a great job filtering out a variety of air pollutants, and if you care for them right, they can live for more than ten years. 

Spider Plant

Next, we have the Spider Plant, another very common, very easy to grow plant. One of the best air purifying plants and also a safe houseplant if you have pets or children in the house. Spider Plants grow in cool to average home temperatures and prefer dry soil. They also like bright and indirect sunlight, so keep them close to an open window. 

Rubber Tree

Now let's talk about the Rubber Tree. This tree has big, dark green bright leaves that definitely make a statement. They are like the perfect minimal, structured plant to have in your home, especially if you don't want things to be too colorful. They also like indirect and bright light. And keep in mind that these trees can also grow very large. 

Gerbera Daisy

Next, gerbera daisy is another house plant due to its beautiful and bright colors. Grow in sunlight and moderate temperature. These plants require the bright sun to bloom and release oxygen at night and remove benzene so best for bedroom and living space

Aloe Vera

Next, we have Aloe Vera, another one top air-purifying plants. It is an easy-case succulent that has elongated leaves. Aloe vera actually has a history of being used for medicinal objectives. The gel inside of the aloe plant can help heal cuts and burns and has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties so multiple other benefits too. Aloe vera loves full sunlight, so it's a great choice for a sunny kitchen window and bathroom. Also, aloe vera is known as an oxygen Bomb which is popular for the production of a large amount of oxygen compared to other indoor plants. The Aloe Vera is also able to cut down toxins like formaldehyde which are present in the air. Lastly, succulents are super cute and super easy plants to bring into your home.  there are so many different varieties. Succulents love bright sunlight, and you barely need to water them. They are the lowest maintenance plants on this list.

Hope so this inspired you to bring some life and color into your home.

What is Ecofeminism? Is Ecofeminism Still Relevant?

 Melting glaciers, extinction of insect populations, wildfire, floods. Climate change is upon us whether we accept it or not, and the environmental, economic and social damage in its leaving in its wake is catastrophic. Many regions in the world drown under storm waters while the Earth continues to heat up. Globally, we are well on our way to beat a tipping point that will change our climate for good. It’s easy to lose hope when you see this glance of what's to come. But often that doom and gloom make us start searching for a better way to navigate our connection with the environment and ourselves. Ecofeminism is a possible thought through which to view our current environmental crisis, and it’s important to see what it has to offer as a theoretical framework. So today, we are going to know two questions: What is Ecofeminism?  And is it a useful thought for understanding our current social and environmental circumstances? So first, what is Ecofeminism? Ecofeminism is a term formulate by Francoise d’Eaubonne in 1974. Ecofeminism is much more than just a title, however, it’s a framework that seeks to combine, re-examine, and amplify the environmental and feminist movements. Like other frameworks, especially in the feminist journey, ecofeminism has grown and evolved in the last 40 years since it was formulated. But at its core, ecofeminism seeks to tell the connection between the injustice of women and the demolition of the environment. In essence, a primary challenge within ecofeminism is that women’s liberation is connected with the liberation of the environment from human demolition. And there are two key ways that this crossroad is explored in ecofeminist value hierarchical thinking and oppositional duality. These sound pretty complex so let’s immediately break them down. Value hierarchical thinking is simply the idea that cultures establish certain troops as inherently more valuable than another troop. Oppositional duality is a way of understanding certain cultural and social binaries. For example, in many civilizations, men and women are seen as fundamentally different from each other and actually being opposites. We talk about “opposite genders” all the time. But that idea is itself composed, instead of being a dual, gender exists on a spectrum. In U.S. culture, humans and nature are another conflicting dualism. And in most cases, civilization attitudes place more value on one side of the binary than the other side. Often, this value duality expresses itself in language. For example, nature is defined as feminine in the phrases fertile ground or mother earth, both to be liberated, sown and extracted. While slang phrases for women tend to be animals, like chick and vixen. Ecofeminists seek to look for that this oppositional and hierarchical thinking helps justify the opposition of both women and nature. But ecofeminism has experienced an acute resistance since it rose to conspicuousness in the 1990s, and indeed, it seems to have lost its following as a consequence of this pushback and its lack of use by activists. One of the main critiques of ecofeminism is that it lacks analysis about race, disability, class and more movements like environmental justice. Many ecofeminist critics point out that ecofeminism does not have an interchangeable framework; because ecofeminists tend to focus only on nature and women, they miss the differences that exist between women. As a result, much of ecofeminist analysis tends to neglect most women. A scholar-activist Gwyn Kirk justifies this claim in her explanation of a weekend workshop in 1987 in New York. She writes that the first of the workshop was led by a group of influencers of color talking about environmental racism and community organizing in their neighborhoods, and it was a very lively debate, but Kirk notes that on the second day she was involved in a workshop on ecofeminism. She describes it as “a small, white group that focused on feminists devoutly.” So, when compared to a framework like that of environmental justice, ecofeminism seems inappropriate for many activists and thinkers. Although environmental justice drives are admittedly often less focused on gender, they seem to build stronger affiliation in frontline and marginalized societies because they focus on issues like toxic waste, pollutants, and food issues affecting people in their immediate circumforaneous. 

Ecofeminism, as critics say has lost its relevance in part because it only functions at this high theoretical level that groups women of all identities into one class. In short, critics of Ecofeminism write that it's not a useful thought because it only allows us to look at how nature and gander are connected, and in doing so it, leaves out an analysis of how racism, ableism, classism and other ways of domination are associate with environmental demolition. Ultimately, ecofeminism is a way through which to view and connect the invasion of the environment and women. It can definitely be a useful lens to understand how discrimination and the destruction of the natural world are connected, but it often leaves out another crucial pathway of subjugation, including class and race. But ecofeminism can be more than just a structure, there is a very real case where gender and environment strike in the world. So, for more on a real-world look at the relationship between gender and climate change.

The Environmental Impact of Food Waste and How We Can Stop it

Curries, Beef burgers, Sushi, Pizzas, Cakes, Pastries, Pasta, Platters, and Tortillas all these food items everyone loves to eat have a big impact on the environment. As a community, food is central not only to our existence but also to our cultures. All of us love food. But as much as we have affection for food, we also love to throw it away. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization calculates that almost ⅓ of food produced for consumption never gets eaten globally. And in the United States, that number is even more. 40% of the U.S.’s available food supply gets wasted each year. According to a report, like buying five bags of groceries at the store and then just leaving two of them in the parking slot every time you shop. So today, we are going to look at food waste with three questions: Why is excessive food waste happening? What are its environmental consequences? And how can we fix it? If all the food that is currently getting thrown into the landfill every year was instead averted into meals for those in need, we would feed as many as 1.8 billion people who need food. On top of the list is that food waste has been estimated to be responsible for roughly 8% of global emissions worldwide. If it was a country, China and the United States ranked third for yearly greenhouse gas emissions. So, food waste is one of many problems at the crossroads of social justice and climate action. Its huge emissions footprint comes from all the energy needed to ship, process, and produce the food that ends up in the trash and from the forceful methane fumes that food emits as it decomposes slowly in landfills. But food doesn’t just grow out of the ground and then suddenly end up in the trash, there is a long chain of consumer interactions and businesses that at any point might turn up your perfectly edible food into waste. Simply put, food transforms into trash in two general areas as it travels from farm to plate: Before the point of buying and after the point of buying. The majority of food waste generated in the United States comes after the point of buying, but let’s look at food loss before that on farms and in grocery stores. One of the best ways to market food is through the illusion of profusion. People shop visually, and to most, that last piece of fruit on the shelf was left there because there was something wrong with it, not because it just happened to be the last one. To appear plentiful, grocery stores often overbuy food to tackle people into purchasing more items. So, at the grocery store and farmers' markets, vendors face an uphill battle against the old quote “Pile it high and watch it fly.” They need to create an excess of food to sell their items, but that excess can at times lead to more waste. After the point of buying, the plague of food waste continues. Indeed, household, restaurant, and foodservice waste account for 70% of the United States' annual food waste. As a consumer of food, it’s our reasonability, we have tried hard to minimize our waste, but it can be easy to cook or buy excess that ends up in the compost or trash. For a family of four, household food waste costs $1,700 annually. With the average plate size expanding by 35% since 1960 and refrigerators growing 30% in volume since 1972, it’s fascinating to buy more food just to fill up space. Overbuying, and the certain “cleaning out the refrigerator activity” that comes with it, can also be attributed to buy-one-get-one-free promotions or purchasing in bulk. Our appliances, supermarkets, and even our plates are all pushing us to buy more and more. In addition to overbuying, in the United States, there is also a serious lack of clarity when it comes to dealing with expiry dates and spoiled items. There are no federal laws regulating sell-by or expiry dates. As the consequence, labels can mean basically anything depending on where you purchase your food.

The lack of clear information regarding when a product actually goes bad means that households throw out perfectly edible food well before it expires. In short, there are marketing, labeling, psychological and cultural forces all coming to play to make food waste a major issue in the United States. Ultimately, there are many points by which food becomes waste, whether in your own home or even before it makes it onto a supermarket store shelf. But there is hope. There are many solid solutions to these problems at all levels of the supply chain. At the individual level solutions look like creating a plan to use all the food you buy or giving it to needy people and truly understand when your food has expired and then composting it instead of throwing it in the bin. You can even get involved with people who are voluntary all over the world that recover food from local restaurants, cafes, homes and stores and give it to those in need. On the supply side, solutions look like lowering food demand by eliminating buy one get one free promotion, donating food that’s not fit for marketing, or even using props and boxes to maintain the illusion of profusion without needed excess production. And on a policy level, actions like standardizing expiration dates accurately reflect the science behind food-borne diseases and illnesses. Food waste is an avoidable problem, and addressing food waste means tackling both climate change and hunger in the process. We don’t necessarily need fancy farming technologies to create more food for people who go hungry; we need to work together on every small level to more equitable distribution of resources we already have, and in doing so we not only mitigate climate change but also create healthier communities.

Covid-19, Plastic Pollution and Environment

The global pandemic (Covid-19) presented an opportunity to check on the health of the planet. Initially, there had been hoped that the slowdown in the world economy would be beneficial for the planet. As air traffic completely stopped, ships were stuck in port, and industrial pollution was completely reduced. But this pandemic has had negative consequences for the environment too. Waste piling up, disposable protective equipment, plastic packaging everywhere. The world was already going under a sea of plastic waste, but covid-19 has made the situation even worse: a face mask can stay in the environment for up to 500 years. It takes that long before they change into invisible microplastic. As environmentalists say the plastic trash levels rose by 50 percent in April and more of that trash of plastic come from food containers water bottles cups and disposable packages when the pandemic hit. In this pandemic, the number of online purchases rose by 240 percent. The wider impact of this plastic pollution on the environment is now starting to become apparent.

There are piles of garbage everywhere the problem is that plastic is very light so it easily flies up by the wind and settles down rivers where it ends up in the ocean. The plastic waste problem has gotten worse day by day. When the coronavirus outbreak began everything's got bad before this pandemic, we would start using less disposable plastic packaging but now people are purchasing even more plastic wrapped items because they are scared of getting a viral infection. Disposable single-use masks and gloves that people are now using we're seeing start to appear on our streets in our countryside on our beaches which is a real concern. You know you can't help but see plastic pollution everywhere and inevitably that's single-use throw-away plastics. We see lots of plastic bottles, masks, plastic cotton bud sticks, tissue paper and confectionery wrappers in this coronavirus pandemic. This really had an impact on the use of plastic and the types of plastics we are seeing in our environment now. Disposable plastic gloves are common in markets they are light and easily swept away. The pandemic has led to a waste crisis now even environmentally conscious people feel safer buying plastic-wrapped products. Plastic bags floating everywhere the tiny plastic particles which made plastic bag you can only see under a microscope are even more dangerous. This tiny plastic passes through the food chain through fish and ends up in our bodies too. It seems like this pandemic should serve as a reason for us to generate even more plastic waste. If we damage the environment, we also endanger our own health. We are seeing this now during the coronavirus pandemics we're not thinking ahead not conserving the environment and not treating animals like we should. It’s our responsibility to cut back on single-use plastics but these days due to the pandemic the very opposite is happening it takes some 500 years for these materials to decompose so they will be with us for generations. Some people choosing plastic packaging for their food because they think it's safer to use plastic in this pandemic crisis. But there is a danger that this pandemic is making our day-to-day lives less ecologically sustainable. Restaurants with a lot of customer mesh use more disposables now than they used to directly before the pandemic. But there's of course also another part of the story and that is we saw a lot of changes in patterns of behavior and consumption that actually move towards more sustainability. As we start with food in for example in many countries the consumption of regionally and ecologically produced food has increased during the pandemic best for the environment and for the economy too. We saw lots of changes in mobility patterns less business travel less commuting to work more house office some of those probably will be maintained after the pandemic and of course due to lockdowns which is not a positive thing for the economy and the humans but consumption and production went down and therefore also energy use and raw material use and therefore stress on the environment went down. So overall it's more the opposite that we didn't see patterns change in a way that is environmentally more destructive although disposables are probably one point so that's in terms of individual behavior but globally can we say that this pandemic has been good or bad for the environment. So, we have seen lots of plastic go into our oceans we are seeing a much less resilient ocean so animals and wildlife being impacted habitats and ecosystems being impacted and that makes it less resilient and able to withstand the shocks of climate change so it's all interconnected. The biggest concern is that the plastics industry can sort of getting itself off the hook of the action that we have been working so hard to deliver so the action on plastic bottles or on straws the sort of interventions is legislative at a systems-level that can stop plastic pollution from ending up in our ocean in the first place so our oceans are absorbing millions of tons of plastic every year. We really need a whole new approach to how we are packaging things a whole new approach to a single-use culture. We need to be much more of the reuse, reduce and refill mindset and we need to make sure that the plastics industry is fully accountable for the sort of packaging they are producing and stopping it from ending up in the ocean. It is really important during this global pandemic crisis that where people now have to wear masks, they think reusable rather than single-use when it comes down to masks and of course, instead of wearing gloves the advice should be just washing your hands regularly and we need to curb this throwaway mindset that we have within society. Protecting the environment should be the priority but experts worry the pandemic and its economic impact may push environmental pollution issues off the agenda.