One is a programme (The Energy Gap) on Radio 4 that I missed at the time, but was able to listen to on-line. A UK family tried living on the same amount of energy as one in India. This meant cutting electricity use by 2/3 and sourcing food from local sources. They may have gone to extremes by having a solar panel fitted, using camping lamps and using less heating. They pointed out the wastage from all the low voltage adaptors that are left switched on all the time. I gather they reverted to some of their old ways when the experiment was over, but I hope they learnt something. The programme should be there for a couple more days.

The other is a list of statistics about how much more of everything the average home in the USA has. More TVs, baths, cars and bigger houses. I'm not sure if the UK is going quite to the same extremes. A lot of new houses are not very big, but we still have more gadgets. They point out that some devices that get left on standby can use more electricty overall in that state than when they are switched on.

Of course there's lots of things everyone can do to make a difference. Turn off lights and other devices when not required, don't boil more water than you need, re-use carrier bags. It all adds up. Oh, and try driving a bit slower. That seems to be a hard one for a lot of people. I've been taking it a bit easier lately and getting a few more mpg. Makes for a more relaxed journey too for the sake on taking a couple of minutes longer.