Wartime Frugality a Good Idea for Gas and Electricity Consumption

We’re often told of the hardships that our ancestors had to suffer throughout the two World Wars in order to overcome adversity. Although undoubtedly the soldiers suffered the most during the fierce fighting, it is easy to forget the suffering and sacrifice of those left behind.

With so much money and resources being dedicated to the war effort, people at home were forced to be ruthlessly efficient with their spending habits in all capacities, including gas and electricity. What was bred as a result of rationing and the struggle throughout the wartime era was a frugality and community spirit which encouraged economic savings and treating all commodities with a special reverence.

Six decades later and that careful thrift has been lost to wanton abandon. At a time when gas and oil resources are becoming scarcer, our desire and hunger for energy is getting bigger and bigger. Perhaps one of the answers to our energy problems is not to just find more gas and oil, or develop new technologies, but to adopt an old-fashioned outlook on energy consumption.

In April 2009 the Energy Saving Trust designed the “Don’t be Fuelish” campaign which aimed to encourage people to be more community minded in order to waste less energy. In the same spirit of the “Dig For Victory” campaign of the Second World War, “Don’t be Fuelish” intends to bring back community spirit to make national savings.

Solutions such as car-sharing on a journey to work or to the station with a neighbour, can make a huge difference to both gas consumption and road congestion, which in turn cuts down on our carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling bath water by using it to water the plants is another excellent wartime practice and a marvellous way of using resources efficiently.

By making small changes to our daily lives and being a little more frugal and a little less wasteful, we can truly learn from our wartime ancestors, and save on our gas and electricity consumption at the same time.