Dunmurry man backs 'wartime spirit' campaign to beat waste
DUNMURRY
man, Alfie Martin, who was a Prisoner of War in Germany during WW2, is
backing a recent survey by the Energy Saving Trust which revealed that
the majority of people in Northern Ireland believe we should embrace the
wartime spirit in an effort to cut down on waste.
Speaking about his experience of hiding in France during the war, Mr Martin said he was struck by how people made the best of what they had, adding that there was a real sense of community spirit during the war. The poll was commissioned as part of the new Energy Saving Trust Wartime Spirit campaign, which aims to highlight how people in Northern Ireland can take the best from the past to get tips on how to reduce waste and save energy.
The survey found that 82% of people polled in Northern Ireland thought local communities should work together more to help manage resources similar to the communal nature of the wartime effort, for example by sharing leftover food with neighbours or car sharing.
And 74% of respondents thought measures such as rationing or personal daily allowances were needed to help people in Northern Ireland cut down on excess.
Noel Williams, Head of the Energy Saving Trust in Northern Ireland, said: "We are certainly not advocating a return to rationing or indeed enforced personal daily allowances.
"However if we could adopt just a few of the practices used during the war, such as recycling bath water for watering plants, then it would go a long way towards helping us not to waste energy and therefore reduce our carbon footprint."
Ulster Star
24/04/2009
