Metonymies, metaphors and/or language reconsiderations for sustainability during COVID-19

Pandemic discussions employ language metaphors and metonymies to make sense of the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis. From commenting and proposing to revise terms such as social distancing, the war against the virus, to viewing mother nature as a killer, there are language reconsiderations to be made to avoid some disturbing mental imageries to picture a sustainable future. The Anthropocene geologic time and the improved environmental quality situate this backdrop. Language interventions make up as a vanishing mediation that will prompt a deeper understanding of the environment and nature as a whole.

The environment in the post-pandemic scenario: sustaining the gains

In a recent correspondence, the authors noted how temporary the experience of improved air quality in the Philippines during the pandemic. They argued that beyond the crafting of policies and guidelines, there must be a solid attitudinal change in the way a person looks, behaves and lives with his/her surroundings. I support that stance and would further argue that community-based approaches can reinforce that desired change and outcome especially in remote villages and communities where group/communal identity is far more normative than individuated identification.