Earth Day 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has upended our lives. Just a week or so ago, individuals in countries around the world were going to bars, seeing movies with friends and, really, just going about business as usual. Now, all that has changed.

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, many health experts and government officials are suggesting, and sometimes mandating, that we practice social distancing to flatten the curve of the outbreak — preventing a surge of infected patients that overwhelm our hospitals. In other words, that means we stay at home and limit nearly all in-person social interactions.

But as we exercise our individual and collective responsibility to reduce viral transmissions to preserve human health, we can still exercise our responsibility to act for environmental health. We can use this solitary time to reassess our current habits and develop new ones that are better for the planet. Below are 11 ways to take action for the planet while social distancing — we hope they’ll stick, even after our global health crisis subsides.

Check out 11 actions you can take here.