While in some places nature has cleared, in others the load on it has become greater. Just a few disturbing examples: in the US, many communities have stopped recycling. Some regions have stopped sorting garbage altogether, considering that this does not apply to vital services. Restaurants and coffee shops have stopped selling coffee and takeaway food in customers ' own cups and containers. Stores began wrapping each bun in a separate plastic bag. There is a possibility of lifting the numerous bans on single-use plastic that eco-activists have been so happy about over the past few years. This will lead to an increase in the amount of garbage that is not recycled or decomposed, and to an increase in the level of microplastic pollution.

How the coronavirus will affect our consumer habits is not yet clear. On the one hand, for a part of the population, spending is now limited to food and medicine. On the other hand, delivery, which has become very popular now, usually means a large amount of unprocessed garbage – especially when people are afraid of infection and are only happy if every Apple is in the package.

Another important aspect is medical waste. In Wuhan, at the height of the epidemic, hospitals produced 200 tons of medical waste every day (50 tons in normal times). There is more waste around the world, such as disposable gloves and masks. For proper use, they need to be changed every few hours, and they are now worn not only by medical personnel, but also by employees of stores, delivery services, and ordinary people. Of course, no one calls for limiting their use when it comes to saving people's lives, but this is an occasion to think again about the recycling system. Disposable medical masks are made of non-woven polymer material, so they can not be sent for recycling. In everyday conditions and as a precautionary measure – not in medical institutions – you can wear reusable fabric masks. How to minimize your environmental footprint when using protective masks?

You can also remember about disinfection in cities. In some places, entire streets, transport stops, and even beaches were treated with disinfectants. At the same time, toxic substances are released into the environment, which means that they can affect wild animals and human health.

The pandemic means a growing threat to wildlife, especially to national parks located in developing countries. The main part of their income was from ecotourism, which has now almost stopped. The local population, if you lose your job, you may take a chance to go on an illegal work – such as poaching. 

Some researchers suggest that it is our initial intervention in the wild, the reduction of biodiversity and the destruction of natural habitats that leads to outbreaks of new viruses. Pathogens pass from animals to humans and spread quickly-it is believed that this is how the SARS virus and COVID-19 appeared. This is also due to wild animal markets in Africa and Asia – often semi-legal or operating without sanitary standards. Some insist on closing them completely, but there is a danger that this will lead to a sharp increase in the black market. In China, after the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, a ban on the trade in wild animals was still introduced. Unfortunately, instead of restoring and protecting natural ecosystems, in some countries, on the contrary, people began to exterminate bats out of fear.