Issues relating to sustainability and the creation of plastics from renewable sources came to the fore in this decade
2000 - Tate Modern opens
2001 - First iPod goes on sale
2001 - 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers
2002 - The Queen Mother dies
2003 - Queen Elizabther II's Golden Jubilee
2005 - Nasa explores the advantages of a polyethylene-based material, RXF1, for the space-ship that will send men to Mars
2005 - Same sex Civil Partnership introduced in the UK
2007 - Tate Britain's Christmas tree decorated with plastic Airfix planes
2008 - Heathrows terminal 5 opens
