Windfall Gains: Tackling climate change via social distancing

The biggest sources of carbon emissions caused by our lifestyles come from three activities, said Kimberly Nicholas, a researcher at the Lund University Center for Sustainability Studies in Sweden: “Any time you can avoid getting on a plane, getting in a car or eating animal products, that’s a substantial climate savings.” Many people trying to avoid the coronavirus are already two-thirds of the way there.

Christopher M. Jones, lead developer at the CoolClimate Network, an applied research consortium at the University of California, Berkeley Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, said that “all these extra precautions that schools and businesses are taking to keep people home are saving lives, and that’s clearly what’s most important.” He added that many of the actions people are taking in response to the coronavirus outbreak could have a benefit of a reduced carbon footprint — though others would have little effect or could even expand it, he said.

People are staying home and flying less. That’s good for the planet, Nicholas said. “For average Americans, the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions is driving,” she said. Anything that reduces driving, including working from home, “has a big impact on our climate pollution.” Avoiding air travel can have a large effect as well: One round-trip flight from New York to London, she said, produces as much greenhouse gas emissions as the preventive climate impact of nearly eight years of recycling.

Jones has done research into the relative carbon footprints of dining at home or dining out, but so far, the results are fuzzy. “We don’t have conclusive evidence yet,” he said, citing the comparative efficiency benefits of eating out and the waste involved in making meals at home. “We waste about 25% of the food that we buy,” he said. Nicholas said that where you eat is not as important as what you eat; while eating foods “lower on the food chain” such as plants results in a much smaller carbon footprint.

If you’re at home staring at your computer without the prying eyes of your co-workers, you may be tempted to shop online a bit more. Or maybe you’ll avoid the supermarket or mass transit by ordering your groceries. A bump in online shopping might be bad for your wallet, but it could be good for the planet, Nicholas said.She cited research suggesting that people who decide to use online ordering and package delivery could well be reducing their effect on climate change, thanks to the benefits of logistically organised, centralised delivery routes and driving less.“I would expect in general that having fewer vehicles on the road is better for the climate,” she said.While online shopping canreduce greenhouse gases, it is most effective when you order in bulk to limit the number of trips delivery vehicles make to your home.