When it comes to cars, I had a bit of luck this summer. No, I wasn’t loaned the new Tesla Model 3. My street underwent a pavement improvement scheme. All the parking bays were suspended and minicabs no longer idled their engines during the night. I found myself living in an accidental Low Emissions Zone. It was wonderful.
Yet despite research telling us that even very low levels of air pollution can shorten our lives, there are plans for just six Clean Air Zones across the UK by 2019. Instead, our dreams of breathable air lie with the Electric Vehicle (EV) revolution. It’s coming to save us in, um, 23 years (new petrol and diesel cars will be banned in 2040).
Can EVs really save the day? When it comes to decarbonising, yes. Growth in electric vehicles alone could save 2m barrels of oil per day by 2025. Impressive. But there are concerns over limitations of battery technology and the rare earth minerals needed to produce them.
Those who tried to save the planet last time around by buying a diesel car and have been left with a particulate-spewing monster are obviously feeling tender. At the extreme end of EV bashing is Dirty Secrets of Electric Cars, a video from a pro-fossil fuel advocacy group connected to the global-warming-denying Koch brothers. The best I can say is that it lacks imagination.
And you need imagination when buying into the promise of electric power. This is not just swapping cars, it’s about a whole new decarbonised power structure, one that takes periodic giant leaps forwards, in battery technology, in grid and storage innovation.
The pavement on my street is sadly completed – but I had a brief taste of low pollution, and I can tell you it’s exhilarating.
The big picture: discover Milton Keynes
Whatever your view of Milton Keynes, you probably hadn’t reckoned on a tree cathedral, a 1,000-year-old moot (meeting place) or a light pyramid patronised by sheep (see above). Fortunately 50 locations have been captured by photographer Gill Prince and used in a new smartphone app, Discovering MK. This is all part of a drive to help unlock the cultural artefacts under our noses. Visit aha-mk.org.
Well dressed: bags of experience
We see many a “look book” in these offices, featuring gleaming new pieces of fashion shot in studios. Anna Kreeger, founder of the M Hulot bag brand, takes a different approach. A believer in the longevity of her products, she has photographed her designs “in service”, from six months through to six years old. So there’s a black clutch (Gia) that has had a rich social life and a Malt rucksack that has spent years as a laptop/nappy bag. Kreeger is fascinated with how materials evolve. “There’s the shiny edge where a cross body bag has rubbed the hips of its owner. A strip of lighter leather where a flap has shielded the inner from the elements. Faded dots and spills, signs of many a good night out,” she says. Buy, wear and stay in touch (the designer may well ask to photograph your bag when it shows signs of a life well lived). Bag £135, mhulot.co.uk
Email Lucy at lucy.siegle@observer.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @lucysiegle
