Switch it off or turn it down: ESB should practise what it preaches

WRITING about so-called waste generation, Bill Bryson once observed that it takes the equivalent of five nuclear power plants to feed all the appliances left running unnecessarily.

The bestselling author implored people to switch off lights in unoccupied rooms and stop cranking up central heating to levels that would “scandalise a Finnish sauna housekeeper”.

In a booklet now being distributed nationwide, the ESB is suggesting similar steps — not necessarily for the benefit of the environment but to counter the impact of their shock-inducing price hike.