The changes that felt very sudden in March have now become the new normal – I am well aware that in other parts of the world, Covid-19 has had a much greater negative impact than what many of us have experienced in New Zealand. This pandemic brought many things to a halt, altered the operations of many industries and the bottom line is; it has changed our lives. Regardless of the various levels of infection rates around the world and varied restrictions dependent on location, everyone has been impacted by this pandemic. I’ve been feeling the need to acknowledge the fact that so much has changed since I published my last post on March 14, 2020 when I wrote about banishing single-use plastics from your life. That was untimely as only shortly after I published that Covid-19 arrived in NZ and we entered a global pandemic. The post was something I was preparing for weeks but soon after I posted it I felt irrelevant.
The goal of eliminating unnecessary single use plastic in my life was something I could work on personally but I realize it is unattainable for so many people, especially as a global pandemic emerged. While I choose to put a large amount of focus on the things that I have control over as an individual, I could not neglect to acknowledge that making plastic free choices is a privilege and investing in alternatives is not always easy.
Covid-19 demanded the use of single use plastics for hygiene in many situations and for quite some time in many parts of the world. In most places, tons of medical waste and personal protective equipment soon accompanied the increased use and disposal of a number of other single-used-plastics. In New Zealand, we had the virus present in the community for only a short time and the medical waste and waste from quarantine facilities doesn’t always make headlines, but doesn’t go unnoticed either. I know that what I’m aware of with regards to waste is really only the tip of the iceberg, especially when you think about the amount of waste being created because of the pandemic, from a global perspective. Not only is it likely, but its been predicted that there there would be a detectable increase or pulse like event of global pollution correlated with the pandemic. Its certainly not just PPE that’s to blame, many cities are seeing a surge in household waste thanks to a myriad COVID-related trends, including the re-emergence of disposable goods, increase in takeaway packaging and the continuous growth of online shopping.
There has been lots of learnings to come out of the past 18+ months – during this part of the global pandemic timeframe, humanity has had to adapt quickly to the changing nature of the rapidly spreading virus. In general, we have all had to deal with an enormous amount of change; from things like adapting to social distancing and the cancellation of travel plans – contrasted with the extremes of dealing with losing people that you couldn’t even say goodbye to. This was compounded by people losing jobs, forcing careers to be put on hold and resulting in a constant worry about the state of economic uncertainty. I don’t know if there is anyone’s mental health that was unaffected; by the relentless grim headlines, daily announcements of the number of community cases, death counts and other terrible news… for months the headlines and news releases, about things far out of my control, managed to make me anxious and sad. Soon enough I felt I had lost momentum with this project and struggled with staying relevant as I became overwhelmed with what was happening in the world.
Since the start of the pandemic, there’s been a persistent little voice in my head telling me that we’re at a stage where people are only going to be focused on themselves; dealing with all the changes Covid-19 has caused, getting the vaccine and getting back to normal. Something kept telling me that people won’t care at all about what I have to say – they won’t care about sustainability, the need for ocean protection or ways to reduce plastic pollution during these times. For most of us, I know priorities have changed, things are different now – but that little voice that told me ‘no one cares’ was so wrong. Over a long period of consideration, I’ve discovered that it’s not that people ‘don’t care’, but sometimes, it’s just that they don’t know. The media overshadows everything else worth caring about with its headlines on the stories which make up the news that ‘sells’ and gains viewers’ attention – and often it’s depressing.
It very clear that the health of the environment is critical to supporting our lives and the living organisms around us and there is an increasing amount of scientific evidence to support meaningful change – yet the world is so caught up with dealing with a pandemic that important things are getting lost in the mix. Single use plastics are still in high demand and the huge quantity of rubbish entering our oceans on a daily basis is still immense. The plastic is in our air, water and food – and we are only beginning to learn how this affects our health and the health of all other organisms we share this planet with. Since the pandemic, none of the other various global issues have gone away or have any less importance. Sea level rise is eminent, various effects of climate change are being felt and impacting people around the world. Food security is in danger, ocean health and productivity is decreasing, and native biodiversity everywhere is in decline. We are living through one of the most dramatic extinction episodes in our planet’s history; losing 1,000 times the natural rate of one to five species per year.
I didn’t intend on this post being a litany of issues – apologies, but I did want to give anyone interested an update on my little project and provide a bit of food for thought. I embarked on a journey to ‘Speak for the Sea’ about 2 years ago, within a little window of free time, just before I started my masters research, while working full time and trying to balance many other aspects of life. I had a vision of engaging with the community and giving talks to inspire a deeper love and care for the ocean.
I wanted to build up to running workshops to empower others to make commonly used household products like lotions, soaps, deodorant etc. from non-toxic, low cost and low waste base ingredients. I started with a beeswax wrap workshop – which was a great success – but not long afterwards I felt that maybe promoting DIY everything was a little unrealistic as I could hardly keep up with doing these DIY things for myself after life picked up pace post-lockdowns. Despite the global pandemic, gratefully, I was able to do some talks and workshops, here and there, online and in-person, in between lockdowns. I accepted that whatever l did wasn’t going to be enough to ‘change the world’ – but feeling hopeless certainly wasn’t going to help either. I needed to refocus and actually find my niche, figure out what I could do that would feel meaningful and have the most impact.
I’ve reevaluated my goals and intentions for I Speak for the Sea, and although I’m still trying to sort out how to balance work and school responsibilities with this ‘passion project’ on the side, this is just another little step ahead. If I’m honest with myself, I don’t really have a plan for new content on my site just yet, but in coming weeks you can look forward to a post about my recent experience on the inaugural Blue Cradle Biosecurity & Microplastics Expedition and a post about my love for diving. I will be wrapping up my masters thesis over the next few months so I intend to follow that up with an update on what I found through my research of Long Bay-Okura marine reserve and what is happening with regards to marine protection in the Hauraki Gulf. Then, I’d really like to turn the spotlight to showcase some of the research that’s going on at Leigh Marine Lab, where I am completing my masters. I am so lucky to work with some incredibly smart researchers that are investigating a diverse range of marine topics. Hopefully you are witness to me ‘finding my niche’ and sharing some cool science!
