Do we rely too much on electricity?

Last week the electricity in my flat went out. I had just got home from work and was happily making my tea, when all of a sudden I was surrounded by complete darkness. The lights had gone out, the oven had stopped working and my phone was no longer charging. My flatmates and I tried to fix it but we soon realised that we couldn’t. We would have to wait for an electrician to come in the morning. This left me a whole night without any electricity. After messaging my friends and family to say that I wouldn’t be able to message tonight because I couldn’t charge my phone, I sat down to eat my half-cooked dinner. And then I wasn’t really sure what to do. My typical evening is spent watching the TV and scrolling through social media. Tonight this wasn’t possible. Due to the lack of lights I couldn’t even read a book. We weren’t prepared with candles and matches. We’re just so reliant on electricity, and expectant that it will work.

So for me it was an early night. And I couldn’t help but think, do we rely too much on electricity? That night, losing our electricity felt like losing a basic necessity. As basic as running water. But really, electricity is a luxury that we’ve grown to take for granted. I use electricity all the time, even when it’s not really necessary. I use it to put the TV on in the background even when I’m not really watching it. I use it to check my phone when I have to wait for even just a minute, for example when waiting for friends. And as I’m writing this, I have my lights on, even in the middle of the day when I don’t really need them.

Our over-use of electricity is a big problem. It contributes to global warming, which is something that we really should be worried about. It is harming our environment and we need to do what we can to stop it. Not only that, but if we continue to use the same large amount of energy we will soon run out.

How would we survive in a world without electricity? Our daily lives revolve around it. We wouldn’t be able to function. Yet we know that, one day, we will run out. So, shouldn’t we start preparing for it now? Cutting back on our use of electricity would make losing it easier, and also save energy resources so that they could last for longer. I know for sure that I could cut down on my use of electricity. And if everyone does the same, we can make a big difference.