Nicola Alpe is a Kiwi living in Los Angeles navigating Americans, motherhood and bad traffic.
Unless you've used this lockdown for a complete digital disconnect, you'll have noticed the good news stories of some of the natural wonders that are occurring across the world. We've seen clear blue skies over industrial cities, animals exploring urban streets and - while largely attributed to the decline in silt churned up by boats - jellyfish swimming down once fetid canals of Venice.
We've read poems and quotes about Mother Earth and because we have had no choice, we have cut down on consumption, travel and waste. New Zealand is lucky in that compared to many countries our air is clear and our water is clean, but because of this many of us are complacent.
Mother Earth is taking a rest: she is breathing, she is resetting and that's all very nice. But how do we build on these unplanned environmental gains whilst clawing back our economic security and our lifestyles? Our lockdown has shown us how perilous our personal economic situations are and irrespective of which nation you choose, how reliant countries are on global partners.
Our time in lockdown has made me respond by purchasing less, reducing waste and making do with what we have. Generations before mine did this because they had to, but mine and subsequent generations have grown up in an era of single use products, a plethora of decently-made, cheap goods to choose from and sometimes a more is more mindset.
