What positive changes will come out of this for society and the environment?

[SistemaAddict]

I was reading about Wetherspoons plan to reopen and thinking how nice is it not to be woken by drunk people causing a ruckus on a Friday and Saturday night. A change in drinking culture would be positive. Then there's all the fast food places that we just don't need. However I wouldn't want anyone to lose their jobs. All the positives seem to have the negative of job losses in the examples I can think of.
Maybe society will become more community minded with a stronger emphasis on family time than working so many hours? More people working from home, less flights and journeys for meetings that can be done via zoom or similar. I was questioning that before this crisis.

What positive changes would you like to see or think that will happen?

I honestly think nothing will change at the structural level.

We are too firmly gripped in the stranglehold of consumerist capitalism. As soon as we regain access to goods and services, the machine will crank back into action.

Even a global disaster like this won't push us into a more socialist model, more's the pity.

That's what worries me on a personal level. I grew up valuing possessions because they didn't let me down like people did and I'm having to train myself to be less materialistic. I'm not too bad now and since this I've questioned every online purchase and automatically delete emails from clothing companies as I just don't need anything. I've often wished I lived a long time ago when life was simpler but then I love my modem comforts. There'll be some interesting studies on this time in years to come I think.
I'm hoping that everyone will make some small positive changes even if it only personally benefits them or their family.

I am wondering whether some people will take a look at themselves and become less materialistic.

Even in the short-term, this situation has been good for the planet and given it a bit of breathing space to repair itself. Maybe people will look at what is happening, and realise that actually, we can make a difference.

We are too firmly gripped in the stranglehold of consumerist capitalism. As soon as we regain access to goods and services, the machine will crank back into action

This. People are idiots.

It’s a difficult one because like you say, we have so many industries that aren’t ‘essential’ to society but they are essential to the people who work in them, as they put the food on the table.

I don’t think there are enough purely essential jobs to keep every working age person in the UK employed.

Also the non essential industries like fast food, pubs, hairdressers etc are some of the small joys in life. Similarly lots of people all over the globe depend on the tourism industry, so if we all decided to stay at home that would have a massive knock on effect.

For me personally, I’ve realised that I don’t have to be in the office as much as I do so il definitely be having a couple of WFH days each week once we are back to normal. I like the idea of less cramped public transport and fewer cars on the road. I definitely don’t see any downsides to that! Also supporting small, local businesses like the ones who have been delivering veg boxes to my shielding parents etc.

What @Mucklowe said.