S U S T A I N A B L E C O N S U M P T I O N I N S T I T U T E C o v i d 1 9 a n d P r a c t i c e C h a n g e i n t h e E v e r y d a y L i f e D o m a i n s o f H y g i e n e , E a t i n g , M o b i l i t y , S h o p p i n g , L e i s u r e a n d W o r k . I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r E n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d S o c i a l S u s t a i n a b i l i t y D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 0 U L R I K E E H G A R T N E R F R A N K B O O N S Please cite as: Ehgartner, U., Boons, F. (2020). COVID-19 and Practice Change in the Everyday Life Domains of Hygiene, Eating, Mobility, Shopping, Leisure and Work: Implications for Environmental and Social Sustainability. Manchester: Sustainable Consumption Institute. Lead authors Ulrike Ehgartner, Frank Boons Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI), University of Manchester Contributors This report was developed by Ulrike Ehgartner and Frank Boons on the basis of a document published earlier this year, which brought together contributions from the following SCI researchers: Frank Boons, Alison Browne, Martin Burgess, Ulrike Ehgartner, Steffen Hirth, Michael Hodson, Helen Holmes, Claire Hoolohan, Sherilyn MacGregor, Andrew McMeekin, Josephine Mylan, Filippo Oncini, Matthew Paterson, Malte Rödl, Maria Sharmina, Alan Warde, Daniel Welch, Harald Wieser, Luke Yates and Chunhua Ye. Acknowledgements The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has contributed to making this publication possible. The views expressed in the report are those of the authors and do not represent Defra policy. The authors would like to thank SCI-affiliates Catherine Walker and Patrick Gould who provided additional inputs and productive feedback, and Katrina Farrugia for proof reading. In this report, evidence of the current crisis, as it is published by journalists, sector experts, analysts and academics is collated and examined against evidence from peer- reviewed research on social practices. The pandemic-related data drawn upon in this report was collected between March and August 2020. As conditions are constantly changing, not only regarding the spread of the virus and measures taken to prevent/slow down transmission, but also as a consequence of interventions taken and socio-economic effects taking hold across all domains of eveyday life, there is a need for ongoing re-evaluation of new evidence against the data drawn upon in this report. Executive summary The Covid-19 pandemic has led to domain have a ripple effect into other widespread changes in social practices in domains; we also find that in cases, key everyday life domains. These changes practices reinforce each other retain the have attracted public and policy interest as status quo. A discussion of the factors that they can be conceived as one step towards shape the interrelatedness of practices more sustainable provision for human needs provides insight for policymaking. such as food, shelter, leisure, and mobility. A key message of our work is that the This report provides a coherent overview of discussion on how to retain Covid-induced available evidence to support a discussion of changes in social practices needs to proceed leveraging changes in social practices with caution, for a number of reasons: towards a more sustainable society. • The Covid-19 pandemic has led to Based on an initial report (SCI, May 2020), waves of governmental and public which covered the immediate changes as a response: “full lockdown”, easing of result of full lockdown in the UK and many other countries, this report takes into restrictions, and then a partial account the next phase of the evolving lockdown. These waves, and to some impact of Covid-19. We provide insight into extent the uncertainty they generate, make it difficult to assess what changes the immediate (during lockdown) as well as in social practices are likely to be ongoing changes in social practices retained. organised along six everyday life domains: • hygiene, eating, mobility, shopping, leisure Evidence on the sustainability impact of and work. For each domain we include a changed practices is patchy. In terms of qualitative discussion of the sustainability sustainability indicators like greenhouse impacts, and provide notes on evidence gas emissions, air quality, access to used. healthy food, data is lacking to make a systematic comparison. Also, practices A key question not addressed in the first can have positive and negative impacts, report concerns the way in which practices which requires a judgment as to what in these domains are related to one another. impact is prioritised. In the current report we provide a full • Social practices, such as for instance chapter which provides conceptual and eating and working, are closely empirical insight into the way in which interlinked. Efforts to retain change in domains. We find initial evidence for the one practice will have implications for way in which changes in practices in one the practices with which it connects. O V E R V I E W O F C O N T E N T Introduction | 1 A practice perspective on the disruption of social life through the coronavirus pandemic | 2 Hygiene Immediate practice changes | 3 Ongoing practice changes | 4 Conditions for retaining practices | 6 Potential sustainability impact | 8 Notes on evidence | 10 Eating Immediate practice changes | 12 Ongoing practice changes | 13 Conditions for retaining practices | 14 Potential sustainability impact | 17 Notes on evidence | 20 Mobility Immediate practice changes | 21 Ongoing practice changes | 22 Conditions for retaining practices | 23 Potential sustainability impact | 26 Notes on evidence | 28 Shopping Immediate practice changes | 30 Ongoing practice changes | 31 Conditions for retaining practices | 33 Potential sustainability impact | 35 Notes on evidence | 37 Leisure Immediate practice changes | 38 Ongoing practice changes | 39 Conditions for retaining practices | 40 Potential sustainability impact | 41 Notes on evidence | 44 Work Immediate practice changes | 46 Ongoing practice changes | 47 Conditions for retaining practices | 47 Potential sustainability impact | 50 Notes on evidence | 52 Covid-19 and practice change across domains How practices connect across domains | 54 Covid-19 and practice change: Instances of ripple effects and strengthening of status quo | 55 Moving forward: What we (do not) know and what we can do | 58 References | 60 1 Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic is deeply affecting technological change, material flows and societies worldwide and demanding a strong ecological dynamics. response across society. Part of this response is reflection and subsequent action that The main section of this report is structured emerges from the key question of how along six different domains of everyday life societies come out of this crisis. in which consumption takes place: Hygiene, Eating, Mobility, Shopping, Leisure and In the UK, the initial national lockdown in Work. Each of these domains will be March has led to a substantial disruption of discussed along the following five questions: the normality of everyday lives, with some remarkably positive sustainability impacts, • Which social practices have including the reduction of air pollution and changed immediately as a GHG emissions, as well as increased social consequence of the Covid-19 cohesion as communities adopt pandemic and the lockdown? collaborative ways of dealing with the • What practice change can we consequences of a prolonged stay inside. observe during the ongoing This prompts immediate reflections on how pandemic? the current coping strategies might feed in to • In relation to the pandemic-related the transition to sustainable societies. practice change observed: What are Helping to understand the challenges and to the conditions for these practices to facilitate this transition is a vital task for be retained? academics. • What are the sustainability implications of practice change and With a focus on the UK, this report seeks to continuation? ground the ongoing public debate on the • What is the evidence base for these pandemic and the impact that responses changes and their sustainability such as lockdown rules and social distancing impact? measures have on our lives. These ongoing debates on the pandemic are placed within Looking at these domains separately makes research insight and evidence from the study sense as the Covid-19 pandemic has caused of social practices: how they become distinct impacts in each of them. At the same established and evolve over time and how, time, these domains are closely interrelated under specific conditions, their change can and the potential for retaining practice lead to system-wide change, specifically a change and concomitant positive change towards more sustainable systems of sustainability impacts requires an provision. Our research draws on the social understanding of these interrelations. These sciences, with a focus on processes of interrelations are taken up in the final section of this report. 2 A practice perspective on the disruption of social life through the coronavirus pandemic The perspective on the consequences of equipment re-directs attention towards Covid-19 taken in this report is directed by a new practices; focus on disruption and change in • people lack the personal resources, established social practices, the routine ways health or finance to return to previous in which people have their meals, do their ways of acting; work, care for their personal hygiene and so • new regulations and new prohibitions on.