Coronavirus 2020: 3 Ways to Care for Yourself and the Planet

At least COVID-19 has come at a time when nature is coming back to life--let's get out and enjoy it!

Buds are emerging from their winter hideaways and the sun has been shining longer each day, making staying indoors a mounting challenge.

However, in these days of living with the spreading pandemic COVID-19, staying away from gatherings of people—indoors and outdoors—is a fact of life.

Although I’ve been working at home like many other Americans, I’ve not been able to resist the sun’s golden glow through the six picture windows that line a corner of my apartment. I’ve been slipping on my running shoes and running for four miles or more.

While on my runs, I feel like I’ve noticed (from a safe distance) many more families spending time outside since the start of this pandemic. Often these outings involve young kids learning to ride a bike, and the glee on their faces always makes me smile, so matter how tired my legs may feel.

I’ve also been getting in more home workout and yoga routines (Sarah Beth Yoga and Yoga with Adriene are amazing!). Catching up on sleep without a morning commute is also helping me feel healthier than I have in months.

However, I know I’m incredibly fortunate since in my state of New York alone, there are more than 25,665 cases of COVID-19 (New York Times). Also, NY Governor Cuomo has said in press conferences and via Twitter the state has a pressing need for ventilators to help those with the disease.

So right now in the midst of this scary illness and terms such as “quarantine” and “social distancing”, I would like to take a moment and just focus on three ways maybe we could see this as an opportunity to not only focus on our own health, but also the planet’s health.

1. Stop Panic Buying, Give Gratitude for Nature

Living during a pandemic can definitely take a toll on your mental health. I’m so concerned I may get the condition, have it and not know it, or perhaps worst of all, pass it onto someone with a weakened immune system.

Perhaps more selfishly, I’ve also been concerned about stores running out of the products I have become accustomed to using every day...ahem...yes, including toilet paper.

At first, I thought empty shelves of toilet paper were just material for funny memes about the pandemic, but then I saw for myself over the weekend: several stores, early in the morning, with literally no toilet paper anywhere to be found. I called a store right around 9 a.m. and asked a worker if they had any in stock--they said they had restocked the night before, but couldn’t guarantee there would be any when we got there. And sure enough, when we arrived about 10 minutes later, it was totally cleared out.

I will be totally honest, toilet paper is one of those modern inventions I'm quite grateful for.

However, I think this is a time to conserve it as much as possible and to maybe also reflect on where it’s coming from.

Most toilet paper comes from two sources: either virgin pulp directly from trees or recycled pulp from materials such as copy paper that has been recycled (CNN). Most mills that use virgin pulp are already running 24/7 on a fixed capacity, according to a statement from Georgia-Pacific, the parent company of the toilet paper brands Angel Soft and Quilted Northern.

Photo: Jasmin Sessler

This March 20 statement included that Georgia-Pacific expects the daily use of toilet paper, already at 409 rolls on average per U.S. household per year, to increase 140 percent when considering the new daily average households would use with more workers and students staying home.

140 percent might seem like a really high number, but with pictures of shopping carts filled with toilet paper making the rounds on news sites and social media, honestly, it doesn’t surprise me all that much.

For those concerned about those empty toilet paper shelves due to hoarding and panic buying, hopefully, it might be reassuring to learn that Georgia-Pacific is working to meet consumer demand, stating: “We’re quickly responding by expediting product that optimizes our existing inventory, increasing production, and utilizing a managed distribution process to smartly manage through this unusual period.” This includes prioritizing direct-to-consumer online and retail store location stocks.

However, I think we should remember the virgin forests where this product is coming from and appreciate them enough not to go overboard with buying more than necessary. Sadly, the toilet paper industry has been trending less sustainable, according to The Guardian. A July 2019 report found that major toilet paper brands were using less recycled pulp than in 2009, leading to unnecessary deforestation. Kimberly-Clark, one of the world’s largest toilet paper suppliers of recognizable brands like Scott and Cottonelle, used around 30 percent recycled pulp in its products in 2011, but this fell to about 23.5 percent in 2017. It also discontinued its Andrex brand that offered a more sustainable recycled bamboo option.

When I’m out running, I often wish I could thank the trees as I run by for producing the healthy oxygen that I gratefully gulp with each step.

They produce it by converting carbon dioxide into this necessary gas as part of the process of photosynthesis. At the same time, this provides a valuable defense against climate change, which is fueled by too much of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (ArborDay.org). Many scientists say to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, we need to be planting many, many more trees and protecting forests--not destroying them.

In fact, an international team of researchers found if people could plant another 2.2 billion acres of forests, this could negate around half of all the carbon humans have spewed into the atmosphere since 1960! (NASA).

Maybe the attention on toilet paper, a product that many of us haven’t given much thought to before, might raise the popularity of products like bidets that don’t use toilet paper and are far more common in Europe and Japan. If you aren’t familiar, these devices use a jet of water to clean your bottom. This is not only more hygienic than using toilet paper, but if Americans switched to bidets, it could save around 15 million trees annually, according to Scientific American.

Bidets can be expensive, but you can find some more affordable options if you know where to look, like Geniebidet. It might also help to think of the expansive forest draped in mist and moss in Oregon’s beautiful Pacific Northwest that you could save (Gizmodo).

With gyms being closed, I think this is also an opportunity for us to appreciate exercising in that fresh air that trees provide. It may even be fresher now than at other times due to less air pollution with fewer commuters on the road every day (ScienceMediaCenter).

Exercise is also of course incredibly good for the body--it’s just important to maintain the necessary 6 feet between another person if going to a crowded outdoor place like a park to avoid spreading the virus, according to two doctors interviewed by Today.

“Social distancing doesn't mean nature distancing. Go out, as long as you have distance,” one of the doctors, Dr. Saad Omer of the Yale Institute for Global Health, told Today.

2. Keep It Clean

On Sunday my husband and I spent the morning cleaning our apartment in preparation for another week working from home. It’s amazing how much better we both felt after clearing out a lot of old stuff we no longer used! Research backs this up.

A 2010 study found that women who described their homes with terms like, “cluttered” and “unfinished projects” were much more likely to have depression and to be burned out than women who described their homes as “restful” and “restorative.” (Psychology Today). (Oh and quick pro tips: taking photos of those things that are hard to part with can help, as well as donating them and considering them taking on a new life).

Just as a cluttered home can make us feel less at peace, research has found litter can do the same by undermining the otherwise mentally restorative qualities of nature (MentalFloss).

Nature’s power to calm the mind and even promote concentration comes from its ability to offer us a break from the incessant stimulation of urban environments. So while you are outside enjoying a wonderful break from constant COVID-19 updates, please remember to keep these natural places clean so they can provide this relief to everyone.

I don’t recommend picking up the litter you see of course with this condition being very contagious, however, you can donate to organizations such as Keep American Beautiful and the Urban Ecology Center that encourage communities to eliminate litter, recycle, and take other measures to protect natural areas.

Also, when recycling and throwing away products during “quarantine cleaning” let’s also remember the high-risk sanitation workers put themselves in when they really take care of this trash.

Some tips to help keep them safe include using soap or an alcohol-based cleaning product to wash off trash can lids and handles, making sure the bins are properly closed, and even donating new gloves or hand sanitizer by leaving them on a trash lid with a note explaining they are safe (WasteManagementMag).

3. Make Time for Your Mental Health

All of the social distancing recommendations, including maintaining 6 feet between another person and avoiding groups of 10 groups or more (NPR) for a 15-day period can lead to feelings of isolation and of course major life disruptions that are stressful, from kids no longer in school all day to wedding plans having to be postponed (PBS).

New York State is also offering free emotional support and mental health provider referrals via this number, 1-844-863-9314, Gov. Cuomo tweeted Wednesday.

The WHO has some helpful recommendations for maintaining mental wellness in the midst of the pandemic. One of them is avoiding news that can cause you to feel overly anxious or upset. Now, I used to work for two newspapers and a television news station, so I think it’s incredibly important and could even be lifesaving to stay informed, but I think the point here is that it’s important to take breaks to maybe focus on work or other areas of life.

I know I’ve found it incredibly distracting and distressing to see the number of cases in my county tick upward and other pandemic updates constantly filling up my social media newsfeeds. So I recently downloaded the app called “Forest” that helps you stay focused on work by avoiding distractions from your phone while helping to plant real trees since the app partners with the organization Trees for the Future. This organization is also helping to use trees as a key to combating poverty and hunger in sub-Saharan Africa.

By the way, another of the WHO’s recommendations for protecting your mental health during this tumultuous time is helping others. Supporting organizations with donations that work on wildlife and nature conservation could be a great place to start, such as the World Wildlife Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and if you’d like to support an organization dear to my heart since it’s part of my beloved Western New York Community, check out Hawk Creek Wildlife Center.

I think right now, one of the best things we can do to maintain our positivity is to extend a helping hand to others.

I've found picking up groceries for my elderly neighbor who doesn't have a car and wants to avoid public places has made me feel much less isolated and more hopeful.

And I think knowing we can make a difference in the lives of others can help give us the faith and spirit we need to protect the vital natural areas we all depend on for our health and peace of mind.

And maybe when this all finally comes to some sort of a resolution, such as with a vaccine being developed in around 18 months at the soonest (Guardian)—and we can all once again get together in public places like bars and restaurants, we’ll remember the wonderful role nature has had in helping us weather this crisis.

Gov. Cuomo also tweeted some positive news

Something about this time and particularly connecting with nature I think is reminding us what’s really important in life: our health, our families, our friends, and of course the incredible planet we get to call home.