COVID-19 & Living Sustainably: Our Survey Results

A few weeks ago we carried out a survey to see if being on lockdown had changed the way that people are living and thinking in terms of sustainability.  As the world is in the grips of a major pandemic there is a feeling that humanity could have caused this and as habitat and biodiversity loss continues to increase globally, some people believe that the COVID-19 outbreak may be just the beginning of mass pandemics.

“We invade tropical forests and other wild landscapes, which harbour so many species of animals and plants – and within those creatures, so many unknown viruses,” David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic, recently wrote in the New York Times. “We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.”

It seems that a lot of people agree that changes need to be made, as our survey results paint a really interesting picture on how people have switched their lifestyles and way of thinking in this coronavirus pandemic.

• 75% of people think that the lockdown has made them greener in some way
• 68% of people are now supporting local businesses more
• 38% of people have started to seek out eco friendly alternatives 
• 30% have reduced their single plastic usage
• A massive 95% of people think that they will carry on with these lifestyle changes into the future
• People overwhelmingly say that they will continue to support local businesses (80%) and waste less food (75%) into 2020 and beyond
• 63% believe that they will make a switch to eco friendly products this year
• One in 10 of those questioned have increased their monthly spend on eco friendly products by 10% in recent months 
• A third of people think it is hard to find eco friendly alternatives

This results are really encouraging right now and my aim with The Eco Friendly Living Co is to give environmentally friendly products a platform and to encourage people to do their bit and make eco swaps that will benefit the planet in the long run.  As Anne-Marie Boinneau, author of the One Green Planet blog, stated ‘We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly.  We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.’ A sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with.