If your days are anything like mine, you’re bombarded with numbers of rising death rates and he-said-she-said of the politics of it all. Understandably, habits will shift in times of trouble, but we don’t have to give up on a world of sustainability because of a pandemic. Here are are few ways to help you stay sustainable in a world that makes it hard:

You CAN fight bacteria with soap. While your DIY Citrus+Vinegar cleaner won’t kill a virus, your other standard, yet still sustainable, household cleaners and soaps will! You don’t need the toxic and increasing-hard-tofind, Clorox Wipes or Lysol spray to keep your house safe and clean. Here are my top choices for staying safe and sustainable:

• Dr Bronner’s Castile Soap ($18)
• Cleancult ($32)
• Blueland ($29)

Buy in Bulk, just a different kind of bulk. In my house, our local grocery store no longer offers all the items we are used to getting in their bulk section, so we’ve switched to purchasing the largest container in the most recyclable packaging available. Instead of fill my cloth bags with rice and dried beans, we are purchasing 5lb bags or rice, which don’t come in a recyclable container but can be used for many other purposes (we’re a frugal household) and canned beans which come in tin and are highly recyclable and don’t clog the recycling stream like plastics.

Try DIY! Since we are trying to avoid public spaces, it’s a great time to try making something that you just didn’t quite get around to doing before you were stuck inside all day. Here are a few of I love:

• DIY Toothpaste
• DIY Dry Shampoo
• DIY Dishwasher Tabs

The biggest take home from this pandemic to remember – longer than we have the coronavirus to overcom, we will still have a global climate crisis. All of the plastic and pollution will still be there for us to deal with, even after we develop herd immunity and vaccines. We have to take care of the place we live, even when we feel hopeless – breathe and remember we are resilient.