FASCINATING footage of what our planet looks like when the human race stays indoors and most industry and mechanical transport shuts down has been going viral in the last few weeks – after all, it's not something we expect to see too often in a lifetime, and it's hard for anyone not living right on top of these phenomena to witness it in person.
From Venice's boat-free canals turning clear and blue with fish and swans moving in, to animals reclaiming the streets, to pictures of bright-blue or star-studded skies above once-polluted cities – and even of mountain ranges beyond them usually invisible – what we've been viewing through other people's photos and videos is a stark reminder of the negative impact our species has on the Earth.
Climate change and safeguarding our environment were right at the peak of 'trending topic' lists until the Coronavirus pandemic struck, but will be back as soon as the Covid-19 outbreak has passed – and in many ways, it has not entirely left us. As an example, Mercadona supermarkets have reassured customers that the plastic gloves they are required to bin at the door upon leaving (to stop thoughtless persons dumping them on the street) will all be recycled as soon as they have gone through stringent, health-authority-approved disinfecting.
Taking out the rubbish is a 'permitted' and 'justifiable' reason to leave your house during lockdown, since it's a matter of health and hygiene, although taking out the recycling is discouraged until absolutely necessary, unless the plastic and paper banks are in the same place as the waste bins. Not too discouraged, though, because otherwise, the temptation would be for everyone to put their plastic, paper, cardboard, tins, cans, and glass bottles in the 'main' bins, returning to the problem we had years ago of landfill sites building up, plastic blowing into the sea whilst more is manufactured from scratch to meet our needs, and trees chopped down to make paper instead of mashing up what we put in the 'blue bins'.
Unlike in some other European countries, such as the UK, where all recyclable waste of any material is placed in the same bin and the rest goes into the rubbish, Spain is among those nations where we need to 'sort' our own recycling and place them in separate, coloured banks. Also, unlike the UK, practically all plastic can and should be recycled – in Britain, soft plastics such as wrappings and packaging found on almost every type of consumer product go into landfill, which is clearly unsustainable and bad news for the planet.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com