COVID-19 – Nature's Healing or False Hope?

A survey of several places—Northern Italy, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, China—suggests that the shutting down of industries, shelter-in-place orders, and other government restraints on citizens’ mobility have lowered pollution levels. The trend should come as no surprise, as air and ground traffic has stopped almost entirely and factories have closed down. However, there are two caveats worth keeping in mind.

First, most of these reports only measure nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels. Although NO2 contributes to the formation of harmful greenhouse gases, it is not the only pollutant. Carbon monoxide, sulfur-oxides, VOCs, and particulate matter, to name a few, are other highly toxic pollutants that worsen air and water quality. Although these pollutants’ levels have been decreasing, in some areas they have increased. So, while a first glance might indicate that the planet is magically healing, a deeper look will show that it only seems so.

Second, the short-term environmental benefits the slowdown of the global economy has produced are very likely to disappear once every industrial operation resumes. Governments are already distributing financial stimuli to ramp up production of industries across all sectors. As air and ground transportation alone resumes, pollution levels will skyrocket once again. Factories will reopen, and their poisonous cough will contaminate the air while we dump toxic waste in precious water streams — nothing will have changed at all. That is unless we bring about a radical change to realign our direction as a species.

The real challenge—to partake in earth’s healing—will begin once the pandemic is but a distant memory.

Gambling on our Future.

Owing to unfathomably high death tolls and unprecedented government measures, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a loud wake-up call. It has prompted many to pause and reflect on our behaviors and actions, which have been inarguably unsustainable. One of the central lessons the pandemic is teaching is that individual responsibility is key to overcoming a collective challenge. The countries that have effectively contained the spread of the coronavirus have done so mostly thanks to diligent individual compliance with government mandates. Hong Kong and Taiwan‘s experiences illustrate how mindful individual participation is crucial to containing the virus successfully. Although individual efforts have been commendable, a more commendable effort will be to retain this mindset after the pandemic ends. Moving forward, we must keep alive the notion that individual attitude is key to ensuring the welfare of the planet — not only in words but also in action.

How could we do it? Just like single water droplets make an ocean move, small changes in individual attitude and behavior can direct the world towards a better future.

As consumers in a global capitalist economy, each of us shares responsibility in creating an ever more globalized network of goods and services. Corporations only thrive if consumers buy their products. As such, their primary objectives are consumer satisfaction and profit maximization. This framework often leads to environmental degradation. For instance, as demands for meat products increase, factory farms are increasingly depleting Earth’s limited resources, overtaking its lands, and polluting the oceans and atmosphere. In 2019 alone, around 193,700 hectares of the Amazon forest were deforested and burned.

Not only do we have power as consumers, but we also have considerable influence as investors. Corporations depend largely on the inflow of capital that comes from investors. The primary goal of investing is often to accrue as much return on investment as possible. But this often comes at a great cost: negligence towards a company’s environmental footprint. To remedy this negligence, we should stop investing in companies that are causing irrevocable damage to the environment, even if they generate the most profit. There is no room to invest greedily. And we can only realize this if we come to grips with the responsibility each of us shares, which should be channeled into supporting businesses committed to creating more sustainable systems.

Do we ever think critically about our environmental implications before eating 35 ounces of meat per week or turning on the car when we could just walk? Do we ever consider investing as an opportunity to support companies that work in partnership with, and not against, nature? Even though we claim to care about social causes and the planet, most of us do not.

Well, we should.

Individual attitude is paramount to overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, as Taiwan and Hong Kong show us. But most important is that we maintain this mindset once the pandemic is over. If we do not, we will likely suffer from something much greater than a potent virus. We can recover from this pandemic — and we will; but we cannot predict whether we will be able to recover from the continuous irrevocable damage we are inflicting on the environment.

Are we ready to stop gambling on our future and pursue the welfare of the planet?

We cannot but say yes.

Here are 5 simple steps we can all take to side with nature and amend our unsustainable practices.

• Commit to going meat-free 3 to 4 times a week
• Commit to using public transportation, carpooling, or walking whenever possible
• Avoid single-use plastics
• Turn off lights you are not using
• Purchase products from companies that are committed to preserving the environment

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This article was written in collaboration with Min Kumar Thapa, a rising senior at Soka University of America majoring in Economics and Psychology. He is currently involved in research on climate change and behavioral sciences with InnerPlanet.World. Find him on LinkedIn.