For many of us, the gift of coronavirus has been learning to adapt, spending more time with family, cooking from scratch, getting to know our community. We can hear birds, breathe cleaner air, see blue skies and distant mountains. We are spending way less money, partly because there is no where to spend it and partly because we don't need to look good, commute to work, teeter around in heels or wear a tie. Anyway, most of us have less money to spend.As we are set to get back to community and work in the next couple of months, many of us are making changes as we face what (and who) really matters and how different we might be personally, communally and as country, in a post COVID-19 world. By default, it is going to be a more conscious world and we will leave a few of our more climate unfriendly habits behind. EVEN FOR THOSE WHO DON'T THINK TWICE ABOUT BEING ECO CONSCIOUS, CHANGE HAS ALREADY COME. IT'S AN INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCE OF HAVING FORMED NEW HABITS AND IN ANY EVENT, ECONOMIC REALITIES ARE GOING TO DEFINE MANY OF OUR NEXT STEPS. Interestingly, most of us don't want our old lives back anyway.
A recent study in the UK reported that only 9% of Brits want their life to go back to the way it was. And 42% of participants said they value food and other essentials more since the pandemic, with 38% cooking from scratch more.
Probably not. With every day that passes, our great social and work experiment gathers more evidence - interaction, productivity and cost benefit. Many of us will return to the office or the shop, but many won't. Where workplaces have found success with disparate teams, workers will either return part time or not at all. The juice has to be worth the squeeze as they say. Jamming cheek to jowl into traffic or buses and trains for a daily fight to get to work stressed, sweaty and possibly sick, has to be worth it when you get there. So much about working in an office is about the way we have always done things; perceptions of communication needs; and frankly, well, the boss not trusting staff (or having the ability to re-imagine). With no option but to join in the experiment, everyone has had to reimagine and most workplaces are forming future plans based on way more flexible arrangements.
As Virgin Airlines leads out, many more businesses, especially in the retail sector, who were already assessing business before COVID-19 simply won't return. National retails chains will reduce their footprint, shrinking some store sizes and not reopening others. Travel will become more expensive, affecting communication, import/exports and tourism.AND THE NUMBER OF WORKERS WE PAY TO WORK SO WE CAN WORK? THE CLEANER, THE GARDENER, THE DOG WALKER, THE PERSONAL TRAINER AT THE GYM? Many of us will not go back to old habits, but keep with new found functional exercise, dog walks and jogging. The percentage of change will be largely driven by economic circumstance, but the cost of new found habits will see the gym, the PT, the dog walker and the gardener out of business.
While the sense of control of our own destiny in our ability to feed ourselves has created a stronger sense of personal security, it has also seen many Australians educating themselves on what Made, Designed, Owned by an Australian (or not) really means. In Facebook Groups like Buy Australian Made Food, made with Australian Ingredients have attracted 40,000 members from scratch in a matter of weeks. THE INCREDIBLY ENCOURAGING THING ABOUT THESE GROUPS IS THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE LEARNED ABOUT READING LABELS IN RELATION TO AUSTRALIAN MADE SINCE THE CRISIS AND THE GROUP STARTED.
As we look at the rows of shoes; racks of clothes; perfumes and cosmetics; hair pluckers, shavers and lifters; hair and colour adders; we begin to realise that a big percentage of our lives were previously spent feeding a circular nonsense economy (that has no environmental consideration) serving nothing more than our appearance.If we live a more casual and relaxed life, this will of course drive big end trends and self adornment won't disappear, but priorities will change to support what matters.
The predictions on how long it will take to get back to 'economic normal', range from 6 months to 15 years. Whatever the time frame, what is undeniable is that many of us will have way less disposable income and that fact in itself, coupled with some of our new found habits, will see a huge reduction in unnecessary consumption and a focus on quality over quantity.
In the end, as a climate activist, there is a lot to be grateful and hopeful for. Whether you are a business or simply someone who cares, now is the time to help everyone you know better understand how the little things we all do every day play a big role in how we can keep our cleaner, greener, brighter world. Who wants a rat race when we can have a mouse race?
Mother Nature has stepped in and presented us with a tremendous opportunity to reprioritise our precious lives in this beautiful planet. Most people will benefit from becoming more resilient and the more of us who are, the better a world it will be :-) Great article thank you. Friday, 24 April 2020