Covid-19, Consumption, and the Environment

The 2008 recession showed that without a conscious effort, any fall in consumption is likely to be temporary. Covid-19 was no different. Yes, sales of clothing took a hit but groceries sales went up. More and more people purchased exercise equipment to stay fit and healthy but the use of single-use plastics steadily increased. The incentive to recycle plastic, however, went down with plummeting oil prices. However, it’s not a problem of consumers buying more and recycling very little; it is inherent in the “take-make-waste” model which extracts and uses natural resources that ultimately ends up as “waste”. The pandemic showed us clearly that this is an ineffective model and is slowly pushing our planet to the brink of disaster which is already actually unfolding in real-time.