With the sharp increases in energy prices, which began in the period 2021-2022, European states had to quickly adopt energy efficiency measures. In addition to the usual recommendations on reducing waste, from the officials and experts came some novel advice, sometimes considered exaggerated, others that generated ironies or even consumer dissatisfaction. HotNews made a top of them.
Let's take a shower together
The advice came in 2022 from Simonetta Sommaruga, Switzerland's Minister of the Environment and Energy, in the context of an austerity campaign during the energy crisis.
She revealed in an interview with the daily “20 Minuten” that couple showers would reduce consumption by 15% in winter and should be a habit combined with other good energy-saving practices, such as “turning off the computer or lights when not needed”.
The suggestion was, as expected, widely echoed, especially on social media. Considering the extent of the reactions and also the many skeptical and ironic comments, Sommaruga returned: “It was a proposal addressed to young people, because I understand that showering together is not a suitable way for those of old age.”
Let's cook with the fire off
The idea of cooking with the fire off (so-called “passive cooking”) was popularized in Italy in 2022 by Giorgio Parisi, Italian physicist and Nobel Prize laureate.
Speaking of cooking pasta, he explained that after the water boils and the pasta is placed in the pot, the heat can be turned off, the pot covered with a lid, and the pasta continues to cook using the stored heat, saving gas or electricity. The proposal was taken up intensively by the press and on social networks, in the context of the energy crisis.
The principle can be successfully applied not only when cooking pasta, but also vegetables or other foods.
Let's not flush the toilet every time
“Think before you flush the toilet – the mayor's latest message,” headlined Britain's The Guardian in a 2005 article after London's Lord Mayor, Ken Livingstone, wanted to draw attention to the large amount of water being flushed down the toilet.
In a time of severe drought, he advised people: “The fastest and most dramatic impact we can have is not to use sprinklers or hoses in the garden, not to use the hose to wash the car, and not to flush the toilet if we've just peed. If we can get people to do that, the consumption rate will go down and we'll start to see not only a replenishment of our reserves, but a reduction in the amounts of energy we consume”.
Let's embrace the pets
This advice came in 2021 from a UK energy company, OVO Energy, also as part of a campaign to educate consumers about energy waste in the context of rising electricity prices.
But the company's post sparked outrage on social media from consumers horrified by the rising bills. The company later deleted the post and apologized.
Let's move around the house
It also came as a recommendation from the Brits at OVO Energy, who claimed that moving around the house will help us stay warmer for longer. Especially the star jumps, that is, jumping while moving our hands and feet.
Other specialist blogs point to push-ups as the most suitable and any kind of movement in general, which, anyway, can only do us good.
Let's install doors that close automatically
In 2022, the Spanish Parliament approved new energy-saving rules, including the obligation for public buildings such as shops, restaurants, offices and cinemas to install automatic closing mechanisms to avoid waste by letting warm air out or cold air in during winter.
According to Laura Llach, a Spanish journalist at Euronews, this measure has caused controversy in Spain.
“Sliding doors were very problematic because during the COVID pandemic restaurants had to invest money to modify them as part of an 'open door strategy' to avoid the transmission of the virus,” she said. “Now they have to change them again.”
According to media reports, only 10% of businesses have installed the automatic doors required by the new rules, due to cost and lack of time, with the work costing between €1,500 and €4,700.
Let's eat ginger
This advice also came from the representatives of the British company urging us to embrace the animals. They explained that in order to stay warm and use less heating, it is good to eat ginger.
The advice is not without scientific foundations, the consumption of ginger being recommended for increasing blood circulation and the feeling of warmth. Other spices that have this warming effect are chili pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, pepper, cumin, and coriander.
Let's put another sweater on us
This was a tip that came from a German politician, Wolfgang Schäuble. He told people to wear two winter sweaters and keep candles handy.
However, Romanians are quite sensitive to this subject, remembering the communist period, when the heat was insufficient and the authorities advised us to put a blanket on us, advice that we had to follow because we had no other option.
Let's close the doors of the cupboards and drawers
This is to have a smaller space to heat.
In addition to the 9 ideas above, there are others circulating on the specialist blogs that did not make the top: take wet towel baths or fast-forward showers while music plays, have romantic candlelit dinners, make the children pay their own bills for the devices they use, install mirrors on the windows to reflect the sun's rays inside, or to install thicker curtains, given that we can lose even 40% of the heat in the home through the windows.
