In the midst of coronavirus, it’s to be expected that our priorities shift and we focus on keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe and healthy. It’s totally understandable that, as we reconfigure our lives, some of our good, green habits will go out the window. And it’s not just us — world leaders have now postponed the COP26 climate change summit until 2021.

Let’s not wipe the slate too clean though. In the midst of this pandemic it’s too easy to ditch our green efforts which had only just been catching on, thanks to environmental campaign groups and the Sir David Attenborough ‘Blue Planet effect’. Now, concerned with contagion, we’re in danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and replacing it with truck-loads of wet wipes, hand sanitisers and single-use plastic instead.

Water companies across the UK have been struggling with sewer blockages since more of us have been buying — and flushing — wet wipes, because toilet roll isn’t available and perhaps we don’t fancy installing a toilet shower. But given most wipes are made of polyester and won’t break down in the sewers or water treatment centres, or in rivers or seas when our sewers overflow, we really shouldn’t be flushing them, unless they have a ‘Fine to Flush’ logo. A bin in the bathroom is all it takes — or two if you want to keep your recyclables separate.

Loose fruit and veg are also taking a hit. Rightly cautious about the spread of Covid-19, shoppers are opting for fresh produce wrapped in plastic and, as I’ve spotted on social media, using antibacterial, single-use wipes to clean food before eating it. 

I’m no epidemiologist, but scientific information tells us that coronavirus isn’t a bacteria, so we don’t need antibacterial products to kill it, and secondly, the virus has a fatty membrane, which means that all soaps, which are designed to cut through grease, destroy it. So we can stay safe by frequently washing our hands, and fruit and veg if we want to, with good ol’ soapy water. Lots better for the fish too. 

I’m not saying it’s easy or always doable, especially now. As an environmentalist and founder of a plastic pollution campaign group, I’ve found myself having to relax the rules as I gratefully fill my handbasket with longer-life, plastic-wrapped stuff that can keep me and my teenager fed. We are definitely allowed to give ourselves a break during the pandemic.

But what about the things we have some control over? Spending more time at home can mean that we’ve got a chance to review our habits and make some changes. We could experiment with making our own DIY cleaning products and refill old bottles. We could invest in some period pants or a menstrual cup and try them out while we’re at home. We could carve out half an hour at the weekend to switch to a green energy provider. And we could buy, or make our own, washable make-up remover pads. Or even make our own washable wet wipes. A quick search on ‘Ecosia’, a search engine that plants trees, will show you how.

The pause in global greenhouse gas emissions we’re witnessing as over two thirds of the world is on lockdown is a teeny-tiny blip in the bigger picture. It’s highly likely that we’ll be encouraged, once this is over, to spend our way back out of an economic depression. The factories will rev up again, the planes will be back in the skies and the emissions will once again soar. And the plastic industry will be rubbing its hands as a scared and misinformed public fall back into the arms of convenience and single-use. 

We don’t know what our world will look like post-coronavirus, but it’s possible we might think differently. Some of the new behaviours, like working from home, doing more online meetings, having an organic veg box delivered, being in touch with your neighbours and looking out for each other, might carry over. A deeper sense of our interconnectedness might inspire more urgent action on the climate breakdown. And maybe our shock at the amount of waste we’re generating when the whole family’s at home might spur us into becoming the new warriors of the refill revolution. 

Coronavirus is a shock to the systems we operate in, but many of those systems aren’t serving us or the planet in the long run. Once we’ve mourned and grieved and recovered, maybe we’ll put those anti-bac wipes away. Maybe we’ll create new systems that will help us, all eight million and counting of the Earth’s weird and wonderful species, thrive. 

Natalie Fee is an award-winning campaigner, author of the #1 Amazon bestseller ’How to Save the World for Free’ and founder of the plastic pollution campaign group, City to Sea.