Enlight21

Author: Gladwyn d'Souza | Category: Education | Environment | Food | Date: 01-01-2021

Here are some highlights from 2020:

• Science was exonerated as nearly everyone waited for the vaccine.
• Bikes sold out as essential workers too poor to buy a car shunned transit.
• Unpredictability became the norm. Just when you thought the vaccines had shown up so did B1.1.7 and 501.V2
• Zoonotic became a word.
• Air pollution fell by up to 50% in cities like New York, San Francisco, Delhi, Beijing etc., greenhouse gas emissions were slashed world-wide, and we got a taste of the air we might breathe in a low-carbon future.
• School improvements such as later start times and customized quarterly curriculums improved learning. 
• More people participated in civic engagement from voting to Black Lives Matter.
• Work From Home passed transit as a commute mode in 2017 but in 2020 it became a reality for all companies.
• Companies like Twitter will not come back to the central office model freeing up land in city centers for work force housing.
• Black Lives Matter raised the environmental justice profile worldwide.
• Local food became a reality. People learned to bake and sew. Seeds and garden supplies sold out.
• People realized that capitalism can make bombs but can’t produce masks and offers essential workers the stark choice between starvation and death.
• Distilleries produced hand sanitizers.
• History of labor was acknowledged as racist monuments were toppled.
• Animals and birds found more space in cities partially depopulated by cars.
• Safe slow streets were implemented in cities around the world. People learned how to walk!
• Community expanded as people met lost lost friends and relatives over zoom.
• And transparency expanded as governments had to go to zoom.

About: Gladwyn d'Souza