You’re sitting at a table in Whispers Cafe, jotting some notes down in a notebook. Accidentally, you spill some of your coffee on the table and rush to the bathroom to grab as many paper towels as you can. You’ve returned to your table only to find that the coffee has seeped through your notes, causing the black ink of your pen to run—your notes are ruined. Sad and annoyed, you rip out the pages of the notebook, bundle them up with the mass of sopping wet paper towels and hurl them all into the trash can. You didn’t know it then, but that mass of wet paper just contributed to the nearly 700 pounds of paper that you’d use this year, and it all went straight into the trash. Worst of all—another fact that you were unaware of—you may have just contributed to the spread of zoonotic diseases.

I was first introduced to the concept of the One Health approach during the anthropology course The Pandemic: Science and Society in the fall of 2020, and since, it’s impacted a lot of what I do on a day-to-day basis. The One Health approach posits that human health is greatly intertwined with the health of the environment and of the world’s wildlife. What this approach seeks to explain is that these three facets—human health, animal health and environmental health—all impact one another. They are not mutually exclusive and we must work on the problems that plague each of these facets in tandem.

One of the issues that is of primary conversation in regards to the One Health approach is the increasing prevalence of zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases refer to diseases that are transferred from animals to humans. For context, the COVID-19 virus is thought to be a zoonotic disease. Now, particularly for the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been a lot of shortcomings that extend beyond the One Health approach. A lot of the problems that we face today regarding this pandemic, including the severity of this issue in America, are the result of poor governmental leadership. However, this does not negate the arguments of the One Health approach, or the possibility of encountering future zoonotic diseases.

Although not new, zoonotic diseases are appearing more frequently, and this is not by coincidence. Deforestation has also been rising and studies are finding correlations between deforestation and the wave of zoonotic diseases. There are multiple reasons why this may be true. For starters, deforestation directly impacts animal habitats. Deforestation creates a drastic loss of habitat space for animals who call these forests their homes; what’s left for them to do but to relocate? So they do. The problem? Some of the animals have no choice but to relocate into or near human communities. Deforestation evicts wildlife from their natural habitats, and forces them into closer proximity with humans. This close contact creates the idealistic opportunity for a virus to spread from wildlife to humans.

Furthermore, deforestation may be leading to a lack of biodiversity that could be assisting in the spread of zoonotic diseases. Consider bats and mosquitoes, for a moment. Mosquitos are known for being vectors of diseases such as Zika, malaria and the West Nile virus. However, bats consume large amounts of mosquitoes, thus reducing the prevalence of these viruses in our communities. But what would happen if these bats now found themselves without a home? It is likely that their population numbers would decline, and consequently, the population numbers of mosquitoes would increase. And of course, they would not be alone; they’d be carrying potentially deadly viruses. Not necessarily in bats, but generally speaking, deforestation could be reducing the populations of animals that control the spread of zoonotic diseases and viruses, thus making humans more susceptible to coming in contact with these pathogens.

Clearly, deforestation is a growing issue. But this is not to say that the only way we can contribute to reducing the prevalence of zoonotic diseases is to end deforestation, nor is it to say that ending deforestation is the only way to change our trajectory. However, this is to say that the little things matter and that they should not be ignored or written off as unimpactful.

This is where the importance of going paperless comes in. Every hard-copy exam, every book, every paper bag—they all have the potential to contribute to the continuation of deforestation, and this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg of paper products. There will be no need for a supply if there is no demand. Your small rejection of paper products can have a big impact. When you can, buy recycled and recyclable paper products. Be conscious of how much paper you utilize, because it adds up quickly and can have a lasting, deleterious effect.

We’ve all been hurt in some way or another by this pandemic. But unfortunately, this pandemic likely will not be our last. That is, unless we start considering the problems that we face holistically as opposed to analyzing them individually. Everything on this planet works together. We have a direct impact on the wellbeing of the planet, and it is up to us to cease harm to it when we can. If not for the sake of the planet or its wildlife, then for the sake of yourself. Next time you spill coffee, try not to take more paper towels than you need. And if it’s a feasible option for you, consider becoming a paperless student. Your small actions today may help to prevent another pandemic down the road.