New research out of Britain shows lockdowns are having at least one positive environmental impact.
A survey conducted by YouGov, in conjunction with Brita, found that the use of single-use plastic bottles had nearly halved among those who were working from home or who had lost employment during the COVID-19 lockdown measures, dropping to 30% from a pre-Covid 58%.
Further, they also found there had been a 45% drop in the number of consumers purchasing water on-the-go since the onset of lockdowns, which was largely attributed to the drop in commuting and in-office purchases.
In Australia, moves are being made to further reduce our reliance on single-use plastics. Including legislation introduced by the Queensland government last month to ban single-use plastics such as straws, cutlery and plates in the state by July next year.
The Sunshine State follows South Australia, who first proposed a move to banning the use of single-use products last year, with the possibility of extending the ban to disposable coffee cups and take-away containers in the future.
According to Clean Up Australia, more than 5 million tonnes of packaging were used in Australia in one 12-month period, of which only half was recycled.