This is a quote from a factory worker who is risking their safety during the Covid-19 pandemic to meet growing demands of online orders. These orders are coming from people stuck at home idly passing another hour of lockdown, bored and browsing the myriad of flash sales they have been enticed into through sponsored ads and a relentless stream of promotional emails. In this unprecedented moment in history, where nobody can simply nip to the store to buy an outfit or grab some art supplies, we turn to the wonder of the modern age – the worldwide web.

Pretty Little Thing, the infamous online brand with sickly-sweet pink plastic packaging, says the reason they will not furlough their employees is that ‘there remains sufficient work activity’. This translates as: thanks to boredom shopping, our weekly orders have tripled from over 120,000 to around 400,000 since lockdown. Now, I know that we may not be able to get all of our essentials at the stores that are open, but I'm pretty sure a new crop top doesn’t appear on that list.

People are also turning to Amazon, buying everything from face masks to paint-by-numbers to fill the stream of hours that blur into one during quarantine. This means that each line of production must remain open to facilitate supply and ensure profit, from the place of manufacture to the system of transit. This need to churn out a constant profit is not at all surprising from Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO with a net worth of $138b, who recently fired two workers for publishing a petition that requested an improvement to safety measures in Amazon warehouses.

There is currently no specific guidance on whether it is safe to be handling online delivery packages, however we do know that the virus lives on surfaces and can transfer from skin to skin contact. Therefore, with each delivery you receive you may be putting yourself or the delivery person at a greater risk of catching the virus.

This not only meant that essential products like paracetamol, which people with chronic illnesses rely on, were out of stock, but also that supermarkets and warehouses had to employ thousands more staff to keep up with the demand from the public. Many of these vacancies have been filled by people adversely affected by the pandemic, who are now putting themselves at greater risk and often aren’t supplied with sufficient hygiene measures or protective clothing.

A woman with cystic fibrosis (CF) spoke on Radio 1 about how people with CF require almost double the daily calorie intake as the average person, and needless stockpiling means not being able to purchase the foods they need, which will likely be detrimental to their health.

As a society, we need to think about what’s important and what really constitutes ‘essential’. Yes, food stores have to stay open for essentials, but if we limit our shopping to just that we can help to ensure that there are fewer numbers of staff working less-punishing hours.

This goes for online clothes shopping, too. Sure, we all want to be comfy when working from home, but is it worthwhile buying another hoody just to take a break from the 7 sitting in your washing pile? Maybe you’ve received an aesthetically pleasing email from your favourite brand pushing colourful activewear that will better prepare you for that 5k you’ve been nominated to run...but is it really worth asking people to risk their lives making and then delivering it?

The reality is that we never know whether the size will be quite right or whether we'll prefer it in green or grey. Therefore, we find ourselves guiltlessly ordering one item in several sizes, or one style in different colours, side-lining the environmental footprint that comes along with the excess production and transport that returns require, and demanding too much of workers who should be staying at home.