Containment is a shock, not only for us but also for our economic system. How can we better live through this period and the aftermath through responsible practices? What lessons can we learn from it? Philippe Lévêque, author of the "Guide Ecofrugal", consultant and founder of monatelier-ecofrugal.fr answers our questions.
Could you introduce your company?
I published the Ecofrugal Guide in 2012 to bring together eco-responsible solutions to adopt at home and at work with a "user benefits" approach. The Ecofrugal Guide has since become a sort of Wiki of practices that allow us to both reduce our environmental impact and save money. It is maintained by the ecofrugal community. It can be downloaded here.
The mission of the company I created is to accelerate the dissemination and large-scale adoption of eco-responsible practices through face-to-face workshops for sharing solutions among friends, neighbours and colleagues.
The strength of the recommendation and the power of the example make participants want to change their practices. Since containment, we have put a free resource online: My Ecofrugal Workshop Special Containment. It is a 50-page kit with free access so that everyone can share their solutions for living better in containment and afterwards.
What does the coronavirus crisis tell us about the ecological crisis?
There are four billion people confined to their homes, and this creates a community of destiny: this situation links us to the health risk we are all facing. But more generally, we can see that it links us in relation to the climate crisis. Like pollution and greenhouse gases, the virus knows no borders. This is very important because it will accelerate awareness [...]. What is interesting is that we are no longer talking about climate change, we are talking about the climate crisis. This means that the understanding of the subject has become more concrete.
Are there any positives in this situation?
Yes, of course. This is the first time that scientists have dictated public policy, and we need to do the same with global warming. Indeed, scientists have been warning us for thirty years, but we haven't really listened to them. In the future people will listen more carefully to what scientists tell us about the climate crisis.
Secondly, there are things that have been done recently that were considered impossible before. If someone had told me that one day there would be no more planes in France, that cars would stay in garages, I would never have believed it. We are, of course, in extreme conditions, but it is interesting, because it will free up the imagination.
In everyday life, there are many people who have adopted ecofriendly practices. Why do they do this? Because these practices are economical in terms of resources, in financial terms, they are resilient and sober practices.
In the area of food, buying from short circuits and home-made food is exploding. Most of the people who adopted these practices during the confinement will continue afterwards because they benefit from them and find them satisfying.
Another example is the practice of sport, during confinement it is even more essential than usual to practice a physical activity. There are sports activities that are very eco-friendly, that do not require infrastructure, are inexpensive and have no environmental impact: gym, brisk walking, running, cycling...
And another positive thing: many people have started to do their own garden, which is also an opportunity for them to do green gym! They organise their green corners, start to make their compost. These are resilient, economical solutions, which also serve social ties, mutual aid and strengthen self-esteem.
The transition is an opportunity, it allows us to reinvent ourselves economically. In terms of infrastructure, it is difficult to invent new things, to do more with less, it creates new possibilities by putting useful constraints on ourselves. In my opinion, the transition will be obvious as soon as the crisis is over, most of the population is already ready. Of course, our material world will not have been destroyed by the virus, but we will have to consider the aftermath like the reconstruction that followed the Second World War.
What solutions have you adopted at Ecofrugal?
As previously mentioned, we have launched a new format of free video workshop to help citizens to better live the containment and the aftermath: My Ecofrugal Workshop Special Containment. Our aim is to help citizens in their new daily lives, but also to help company managers who are faced with the rise of psychosocial risks and must ensure the quality of life at work. For many employees, the company has invited itself into their homes, the personal and professional spheres are merging, and in this context, living better at home also means living better at work.
Our solution allows you to keep in touch with your colleagues, and this encourages the maintenance of social links, mutual aid and cooperation between employees. It's very inspiring. In companies, when teleworking is permanent, it increases the anxiety of employees. A survey published recently shows that 50% of teleworkers feel isolated. Our video meetings are replacing the coffee machine: employees talk about their solutions, about everything they have put in place in their daily lives to better live through this period, this creates positive interactions and helps reduce anxiety, again many of these new practices will continue after the health crisis.
How to prepare for decontamination?
The philosophy of ecofrugal is to encourage the sharing of experiences so that everyone can learn from each other by showing what sustainable development brings in terms of comfort, safety, well-being, health and purchasing power. Personally, I am a great believer in social mimetism and the sharing of good practices to adapt to our new environment. A simple example: to respect the social distance in big cities, the bicycle is preferable to public transport. If you already use a bicycle to go to work, suggest to your colleagues who are new to cycling that they cycle together for the first time, to reassure them and give them advice (safety equipment, hot spots on the route, maintenance, protection against theft....)
What do you advise to keep in touch with the neighbourhood during the confinement?
Physical distancing should not be confused with social distancing. You should not hesitate, for example, to put up a poster in your building and write what you need and what you can do for others. There are already this kind of posters on the internet, we have put many useful links like this in the containment kit. Then, you can always keep in touch by talking to people at a distance or organising a video chat with people in your building.
What lessons can we learn from this situation?
It is time to move on to the next stage. We can see that society is starting to ask questions. I think that this crisis will release a lot of positive energy. For us, it is an opportunity to prepare ourselves to better protect ourselves from future crises. We can no longer carry on as before, everyone is more aware of their fragility and vulnerability. We have to manage to stay united, and for that sustainable development can bring us together, after all we all want the same thing, peace, security, health for us and our children!