What will your day look like in 2050?
Depending on the outcome of #COP26, the picture could be very different. @sarahirwilson spoke to experts across fashion, diet, transport & architecture for a snapshot of life in the best and worst-case scenarios
bigissue.com/news/environme…
🏡✅ If all goes well, in 2050 you share a complex with neighbours of all ages and reap the benefits of cheap renewable energy, rainwater-powered showers and smart architecture to keep the building cool in summer and toasty in winter.
bigissue.com/news/environme…
📷 Abir Abdullah
🏚️❌In the worst-case scenario, the government’s retrofitting scheme never finished, leaving millions of homes draughty, relying on dwindling gas supplies for heat. You feel lucky not to be in an area constantly hit by flooding - both at home and abroad.
bigissue.com/news/environme…
👚👔✅ If we get things right, your wardrobe is less full than it once was and the clothes last for years. You pull on a pair of “lifetime jeans” purchased in 2030. Your boots are second-hand - the way most fashion is bought in 2050. bigissue.com/news/environme…
👚👔❌ Cotton crops fail and countries turn away shipments of Britain’s discarded clothes, but the fast fashion giants trundle on. You try not to think about the burning piles of fabric as you pull on a £1 t-shirt and discount jeans. bigissue.com/news/environme…
📷 Erich Ferdinand
🍽️ ✅ Meat is now a rare treat, often mixed with plant protein and served with an abundance of vegetables. Your veg box comes from a local farm and you think back in amazement to the days of single apples wrapped in plastic.
bigissue.com/news/environme…
🍽️❌ In the worst case, you no longer know what will be on the shelves when you go shopping, let alone what you’ll pay. The droughts and crop failures mean prices fluctuate constantly and foods once common in the UK - like bananas - are hard to come by.
bigissue.com/news/environme…
🚴🚄✅ Walking, cycling and green public transport are more popular than ever, but on lazier days you opt for Ryder - a car-pooling app now in every large UK city. Children take “bike buses” to school and almost every vehicle is quiet, clean and electric.
bigissue.com/news/environme…
🚴🚄❌ In a worst-case scenario, a botched electric transition and culture war over “woke” green cars pushed thousands back to petrol. Electric charging points are poorly-placed, squeezing pedestrians into the roads.
bigissue.com/news/environme…
🏙️✅ Green space is everywhere in town thanks to frantic tree-planting efforts in the 2020s. The air is cleaner, and children go to nursery in urban “forest schools”, learning how to safeguard the environment for years to come.
bigissue.com/news/environme…
✍️ James Mackay
🏙️❌ The pharmacy has a queue that stretches around the corner. You feel there’s little point in queuing - many medicines no longer exist thanks to our dwindling resources and supply chains. People are once again dying of preventable illnesses.
bigissue.com/news/environme…
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