Rosh Hashanah, COVID-19, and the time for change

I’ve always loved the basic message of Rosh Hashanah. We aren’t perfect; we make mistakes but, importantly, we can change.

Rosh Hashanah forces us to carve out space in our busy chaotic lives to self-reflect; to stop, think of the year gone by; to acknowledge and repent for our wrongdoings; and to set goals on how to be better versions of ourselves in the year ahead.

We should apply this insightful message of Rosh Hashanah to all aspects of our lives. Take time out to be self-aware, reflect, acknowledge where you would like to do better, and commit to yourself to improve.

Now, it’s hard to have a conversation these days without bringing COVID-19 into it. As we all know, COVID-19 has forced us, collectively, to stop. Stop shaking hands, stop hugging your friends, stop going to work, stop going to parties, stop going to restaurants, stop attending school concerts, stop travelling. The world has never stopped the way it has stopped in 2020. So now that we’ve stopped, we have a rare opportunity, on an existential level, to reflect.

It’s not news to us that the planet is on a downward spiral and has a deadline: 10 years. Climate scientists tell us that if, over the next 10 years, we don’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions drastically and maintain carbon sinks (like forests), the results will be catastrophic and irreversible. The warnings have been there for some time but, for all intents and purposes, we’ve ignored them. And things have become worse.

It got very close to home over summer with the worst bushfires Australia has ever seen, and a government enquiry recently confirming they were “clearly” fuelled by climate change.

Ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising, approximately 24 species are becoming extinct every single day. It’s almost as if the world needed to be shaken to its core. To stop in its tracks. To reflect. To acknowledge that the way we’ve been doing things isn’t working. To be reminded that we are part of nature, not superior to it. To change.

Just as Rosh Hashanah encourages us to reflect on where we’ve fallen short and commit to doing better, so too has COVID-19 given us the opportunity to reflect on our unsustainable relationship with nature, and commit to improving it.

But where does one start? Reducing meat consumption is one of the easiest and most impactful ways to lessen your environmental footprint; perhaps eliminate one meat meal per week, or only eat meat on weekends.

Be aware of single use plastic: On average a single-use water bottle is used for only 10 minutes and can then take more than 500 years to break down. Take your own water bottle, shopping bags, coffee cup, and avoid pre-cut veggies packaged in single-use waste. Look into your super fund and understand where your money is being invested; coal and fossil fuels are very damaging to the environment, so if your super fund invests here then change funds.

Compost: Food waste that goes to landfill emits a gas called methane, which is a more powerful greenhouse gas than CO₂. Composting reduces this impact, and it’s very simple to organise through your local council. Big and small, there are many things you as an individual can do to start repairing our broken relationship with nature.

Rosh Hashanah and COVID-19 are sending us a clear message. We aren’t perfect; we are human, we make mistakes, but we can change and we must change. The world can’t wait any longer.

• Dina Bloom is a lawyer and mother of three, based in Sydney, Australia. She is currently studying Sustainability and Climate Policy, and hopes to create positive change for the next generation. For more everyday ideas on how to live more sustainably, follow her on Instagram @sustainable.living.guide