We may want to keep baking bread

There have been thirty million articles written about how COVID has caused a drop in emissions. But we’re still consuming, and living our daily lives, which is why emissions have been projected to drop by 8%  and not the 50% you might expect, given that the world is at a relative standstill. 

Of course 8% is nothing to sneeze at, considering we need an annual 7.6% drop over the next ten years to stave off the worst of climate change. While some say the fact that a global lockdown hasn’t caused a more precipitous drop in emissions is proof we need systemic change, we’d argue it’s not either/or. Yes, we need deep systemic change, electrification of the grid, and building retrofits. But, despite the hardships of the lockdown, we also need people to keep doing some of what they’re doing right now – using less, travelling less, saving more. And yet we need these lifestyle changes to be deliberate, and not forced upon us by global tragedy.

Amidst the pain of COVID there are emissions-reducing things we’re all doing that we may LIKE doing – driving less, shopping less, pretending to enjoy baking sourdough. Some of these lifestyle changes are things that may even continue and become habits (it takes anywhere from 2 to 2,000 days to form one! How long will this lockdown last?) in our post-COVID lives. 

While we may not have a choice when it comes to certain things (your boss may need you back in the office as soon as the medical officer of health deems it safe), in other areas we may find a new openness to doing things differently. We may be able to maintain the good parts of our new routines. 

These small changes in our personal habits are key to not only bringing down emissions, but essential in helping us push for systems and policy change. Once we start riding a bike to work, we’re much more likely to push for the necessary systems and policy change that will make that experience safer. Once we do things in our own life that bring down our carbon emissions, we’re much more likely to push for climate policy. 

What are you doing that may be contributing to the drop in emissions? Do you enjoy it? And will you maintain it? Let us know.