Skip to content

When A Teen Goes Green

About an eco-positive lifestyle

Menu
  • Home
    • What is an eco-positive lifestyle?
    • New? Start here!
  • How to guides
  • Reducing negative impact
    • Veganism
    • Minimalism
    • Zero Waste
    • Sustainable Traveling
    • Sustainable and Fair Fashion
    • Intersectional Feminism
    • Circular Economy
    • The 9 Planetary Boundaries
  • Increasing positive impact
  • Inspiration
    • Recipes
    • Hotspots
    • Organizations and apps
    • Books, documentaries, films, series and podcasts
    • Books, Films and Series List
  • Personal
    • My Ideal World
    • About me and this blog
Menu

What can we learn from COVID-19?

Posted on March 23, 2020September 24, 2022

Just like everyone else, I can’t ignore it: the new corona virus. Most of the world is affected by the new virus and the consequences are massive. In times like these, the focus lies with decreasing the further spreading of the disease. Entire countries are in quarantine and it’s all you hear about on the news. Even though I understand that, I tried to look at the core of the problem the past days. How did this new virus arise and what is there to change so that this doesn’t happen again? What can we learn from COVID-19?

The core problem

In a way, it makes sense that most media platforms are talking about the consequences rather than where the problem came from. They’re here to inform the public. People need to know what to do and what not to do. You know, keep 1.5 meter distance, don’t go out of your house if you don’t have to, wash your hands frequently, all that. I truly get that, but I am missing the core problem. How did this virus arise in the first place? What are we doing wrong? I didn’t find much on the news, but luckily scientists are actually looking into that.

COVID-19

The new coronavirus, The Dutch ministry calls it COVID-19 but it is officially named SARS-CoV2. COVID-19 is zoonotic disease, a disease that is transferred from animals to humans (source). Up to 75% of all new diseases affecting people are zoonotic (source). Besides COVID-19, Ebola, Aviaire Influenza (bird flu) and salmonella are also zoonotic diseases. There are up to 150, but I won’t name all of them here.

There are many ways in which a zoonotic disease can be transferred from animals to humans, but the biggest source is eating animals. The research into the origin of the COVID-19 virus shows that it’s originated in a wild animal market in China (source). The disease has probably first occurred in a bat. Then the bat has transferred this to another animal and this animal was then brought to the Chinese wild animal market (source). The infected animal then came into contact with humans and from there it spread across the globe.

My personal interpretation

As research shows, the problem begins when we remove the animal from its natural habitat and come in contact with it. The virus wasn’t a problem when it was inside the bat and the other wild animal which it was transferred to. But the moment we take the animal from it’s natural habitat, domesticate it, or worse, slaughter it, the spread of the disease starts. So, apart from all the ethical reasons I can think of to not eat animals, there’s another good argument added to the list: zoonotic diseases that kill people.

If we did not eat or trade animals, this pandemic would not have occurred. 

And so, what we can learn from this massive problem which affects literally almost the entire world, COVID-19? We should not eat, domesticate or trade animals or animal products.

Not only wild animals

And even if you’re a Dutch person who lives in an urban area and think: my diet does not consist of wild animals. Well, if you eat an average Dutch diet, you do. Fish are wild animals, I’ve seen restaurants serve wild meat and during Christmas a lot of people hunt. And even then, zoonotic diseases are not only transferred to humans by eating wild animals. It also occurs when humans eat domesticated animals like chickens or cows. These animals do not always get sick from the virus, but they do transmit it to humans. A few examples are Aviaire Influenza, which can be transmitted mostly through chickens (source), Campylobacter, also transferred through mostly chickens (source) and listeria, which can be caused by eating all kinds of animal products (source).

For me personally zoonotic diseases are another good reasons to not eat, domesticate (yes, that also means no pets or horses) or trade animals.

That’s what I think we can learn from COVID-19. What do you think about zoonotic diseases?

Yours sincerely,
Romee 

18 thoughts on “What can we learn from COVID-19?”

  1. Pingback: Room tour – part 2 – When A Teen Goes Green
  2. Pingback: My 5 biggest sustainability challenges at this moment – When A Teen Goes Green
  3. Pingback: Am I having a mid-life crisis? – When A Teen Goes Green
  4. Pingback: Eco-positive weekly diary #128: I’m back! – When A Teen Goes Green
  5. Pingback: News + what you can do about it, week 43-2020 – When A Teen Goes Green
  6. Pingback: The most fun and sustainable hotspots in Texel (Netherlands) – When A Teen Goes Green
  7. Pingback: News + What You Can Do About It | August 2021 – When A Teen Goes Green
  8. Pingback: My Love-Hate Relationship with Social Media – When A Teen Goes Green
  9. Pingback: 10 Positive Impacts I’ve made in 2021 – When A Teen Goes Green
  10. Pingback: News and Personal Impact | December 2021 - When A Teen Goes Green
  11. Pingback: Ethical Reasons Against Fish Consumption - When A Teen Goes Green
  12. Pingback: Why I don't own a car - When A Teen Goes Green
  13. Pingback: My Positive Impact in 2020 | When A Teen Goes Green
  14. Pingback: Why Fireworks Suck | When A Teen Goes Green
  15. Pingback: Life Update: I got my Master of Science! |
  16. Pingback: Am I having a mid-life crisis? | When A Teen Goes Green
  17. Pingback: Using Signal instead of WhatsApp | When A Teen Goes Green
  18. Pingback: Why I don't measure my sport performances or sleep | When A Teen Goes Green

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search for anything

Want to get an update every time I post something?

Enter your email address to subscribe to my blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 273 other subscribers.

ABOUT ME

 

when a teen goes green

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

Here’s what I posted most recently

  • The best vegan ice-cream, desserts and yoghurt
  • I am a poop donor
  • Why I never light candles
  • 4 podcast tips from May 2023
  • Series: Dominee of Koopman

Translate this site

Follow me on Instagram

Een greep uit de vegan maaltijden die ik at in mei 2023 🧆. Als ik zo terugkijk heb ik de italiaanse weer helemaal ontdekt, haha! Maar het hoogtepunt was wel echt de vegan, zero waste, kaassaus die ik maakte voor over de nachoschotel 🫘. Welke vegan ijs-, toetjes- of yoghurtproducten zijn het lekkerst? Ik zette het voor je op een rijtje in een artikel die vanaf vandaag te lezen is 🍧. Je vindt de link in mijn bio. Spoiler: deze van Hertog staat er zeker tussen! #plantaardig #vegan #blogger ✨ 4 tweedehands outfits die ik droeg in mei 2023 👗. Ik had op iets beter weer en iets koudere outfits gehoopt, maar goed, dat schuiven we dan maar naar juni! Ik ben poepdonor 💩. Ja, écht. Ik doe mee met een wetenschappelijk onderzoek waarbij mijn darmflora gebruikt wordt om mensen met een leveraandoening te genezen. Ik ben zo blij met de positieve impact die ik hiermee kan maken! En ik krijg er nog betaald voor ook. Meer weten? Lees het artikel dat ik erover schreef via de link in mijn bio. Binnenkort zal ik er ook een Youtube-video aan wijden. #donor #positieveimpact #nafldnashresearch Minimaliseren en ontspullen blijft een ongoing process 📦. Ik vind dat ik niet al te veel spullen heb, maar toch geef ik nog geregeld spullen weg aan de kringloopwinkel. In deze reel laat ik de laatste 5 items aan je zien. Plantaardiger eten hoeft niet moeilijk te zijn, je moet net even weten welke producten vegan zijn. Vandaag deel ik een makkelijke swap voor mayonaise 🍟. Het is weer mei! En dat betekent dat er weer een artikel met podcast-tips op mijn blog staat (de vijfde in de reeks inmiddels!). Vandaag lees je over 4 podcasts die ik aan bijna iedereen zou aanraden 🎧. 5 vegan maaltijden die ik at in april 2023 🥙. En ja, écht alles is vegan. Want elk gerecht is te veganizen. Vandaag verscheen er weer een kijktip op mijn blog. Ik tipte de serie Dominee of Koopman, een serie over ontwikkelingshulp. Wat ik ervan vond lees je in het artikel 💰. #blog #serie #ontwikkelingshulp

Read my latest posts

  • The best vegan ice-cream, desserts and yoghurt
  • I am a poop donor
  • Why I never light candles
  • 4 podcast tips from May 2023
  • Series: Dominee of Koopman

Subscribe by e-mail

©2023 When A Teen Goes Green | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes.com