It’s no secret that the environment is rapidly deteriorating but to what extent has coronavirus had an impact on this?
 
Since COVID-19 began, the amount of single-use plastic has increased immensely. There’s no denying that it hasn’t been a life-saver through this pandemic, with masks, aprons, gloves, visors and so much more. Despite its benefits, it’s not being disposed of correctly. In the United Kingdom, fly-tipping has risen by 300% during the pandemic and this is so awful for numerous reasons.
 
I spoke to a number of people who gave their opinions on the usage of single-use plastic. A vast issue which surfaced a lot was the effect on the ocean.
 
Hannah Adam, someone who cares greatly for the environment, quoted, “Aquatic life will get strangled in the mask strings. Oceans and Landfills will get filled up with plastic which takes ages to decompose.”
 
It was found that plastic takes roughly 450 years to start to decompose. This disruption to natural habitats is extremely damaging and when animals get tangled in the plastic, they are most likely to suffocate from being strangled and die.
 
Something we can all do to help this is to pull off the strings before we dispose of our single-use masks. It only takes a couple of seconds but even a minor change will have a humongous impact helping other species.
 
Has the UK lockdown benefited the environment in any way? A geography student, Lucy Ellis, told me, “since not many people are using transport, the atmosphere has gotten a lot better.” Although the lack of congestion has decreased the CO2 in the air, the overuse of plastics and fossil fuels has made up for it.
 
I asked those people if covid has made them anymore conscious of choices that affect the environment. Ellis said, “I have more time to read where/how to recycle certain things. I’m making sure I don’t use single-use masks and we haven’t bought plastic non-reusable bottles in over a year!”
 
Another person told me that they “started using paper straws, even though they don’t taste very nice”. Over the past year, we’ve been selfish. It’s now time to be selfless.
 
If we all work together, what can we do to help further? One person said that sometimes “protests end up doing more harm. Speak to large companies like Shein, Tescos , Cosco (any wholesales) and allow them to help target the problem.”
 
Another person said “Protests make a difference to an extent. We need to stop using single-use items and making sure to throw all rubbish away. Turn off lights/taps when they’re not being used.”
 
What may seem like a very small act can have a bigger impact than you realise. We can all work as a team to help change the world for the better.