The Order Of The Ancient Way

"Use Of Resources"

Have you noticed how those in 'authority' tell us we must do one thing, when they are actually doing the opposite?

Let us take for example, electricity. A commodity that in today's technological era is almost essential for life to continue.

Right now, 'they' recommend turning off any lights or appliances that are not in use in order to save 'the environment'. Good advice, I think, and I confess that is what I do as far as is reasonable, e.g. with the exception of the fridge, freezer and clocks that we rely upon to wake us in the morning.

Tell me, what do 'the authorities' do in this respect? Not a lot so far as I can see.

Take a look at street lighting, particularly that on the motorways. I can remember commenting to my mother many years ago, that we could manage quite nicely with half the number of lights, maybe even a third, which might possibly allow some of the presently unlit stretches to have a little illumination. But in spite of all their talk of 'saving' electricity, they seem to pay little attention to their own advice. Town centres in particular, are bright as day from dusk until dawn, with the occasional light that refuses to be turned off and can burn constantly for days, sometimes weeks.

I read recently of a family who had spent £10,000 on decorating and illuminating the outside of their home over the Christmas period, admittedly a large portion of that would have been on the decorations. They were very proud of the fact that they had raised £2,000 for charity. Somebody wrote to a newspaper saying it would have been more appropriate to have given the £10,000 to charity and saved the electricity which must have cost hundreds of pounds. I am inclined to agree. And this is only one such incident.

I walked the dogs along a public footpath/bridleway the other day, mid-day, sun shining brightly. I could not fail to notice that at least half the lights were still lit. I counted 10 on Saturday, more on Sunday and Monday. So much for economy.

I often wonder how we all survived the war years when there were no lights at all on our streets.

When we visit 'government' offices we find that employees no longer need to boil a kettle for their tea breaks, vending machines are now provided for drinks all day long! That seems to be the case in many other offices too. I am not sure whether they are turned off at night and weekends though.

I also try to economise on gas, another commodity that we expect to be in short supply in due course. My central heating is on 2 hours morning and evening. If I am at home and cold during the day, on goes my woollen jacket, or I may do some cleaning to warm me up, or even walk the dog. Gas prices have just increased by 22% in spite of a several billion pound profit by the gas company. The price increase WE expected.

A visit to the shops will greet you with a wall of heat. I am sure they could lower their thermostats and still maintain life, as could most government buildings.

Another commodity that we expect to become scarce is water, with global warming progressing as it is.

Do you try to save water? I do. No dripping taps and a small cistern to limit the amount of water used at each flush of the toilet. Showers instead of baths. Using a dishwasher only if there is a full load. Why fill a dishwasher with cups and saucers when they can be so easily washed in a bowl of water as the need arises? The water can then be used to swill the front path or utilised in some other way.

Then there is the weekly wash, yes, weekly, or at least only when there is a full load of clothes not just a couple of items which is a dreadful waste of water. Some items, such as woollens I hand wash and rinse only using the machine to spin-dry, because I cannot remove sufficient water from them otherwise. Unfortunately the day of the mangle has passed and the day of arthritis is progressing.

How long can one have to wait for somebody to arrive and attend to a dripping tap? Gallons of water can be lost down the drain, wasted.

I have often wondered, especially in a real deluge, why this surface water is not directed to underground reservoirs/tanks for use when rain in scarce or sporadic supply. I am sure there are plenty of underground places that could be utilised. What about all the worked-out mines? Surely with today's technology something could be organised.

That reminds me, my water butt needs cleaning so that I will have some water for the garden later.

If we take the trouble to look around us we can see how much wastage there is of the essential commodities and hopefully come up with some ideas of how to make the best use of what we have and possibly help them to last us a bit longer. As somebody says in a TV commercial, 'every little helps'.

I am concerned about immigration, the more people that are in residence the less resources there are for those who are already established in our various countries. Some of us live on relatively small islands with limited resources. Those who are permitted to join us really ought to be educated in the economy of resources. Come to think of it, some that are 'natives' would also benefit from similar instruction.

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