interview with my grandmother

    I have asked my grandmother about her memoirs concerning energy resources
in the past and changes that have happened since then.

    My grandmother was born in a small village, where she spent her youth. As she remembers, until 50s there wasn't electricity in her village and they were doing their homework by a paraffin lamp's light. Doors as well as all windows weren't sealed so during frosts, it used to congeal water inside the house. They had a furnace in the kitchen. They used wood to heat the house and make meals. In the 50s government electrified her village, but they used power only to light the house. They didn't have any other electrical devices but some light bulbs.

    Horses were used not only in the household and in the field, but also as means of transport. As they could travel by train only between bigger cities and there were hardly any cars, they had to ride a horse the rest of their journey. Her father bought first tractor in the early 70s, after she had moved to the town. Electronic equipment was very rare and expensive then, our economy was very backward because of the communism in comparison with western European countries. My grandmother bought the first (black-and-white) TV set in the early 80s, after moving to town.

    Nowadays, she's got three TV sets, but she doesn't use them much. She uses energy-saving bulbs and she always turns off all unnecessary light. She never leaves oven turned on after cooking and she is trying to separate wastes. She knows how important it is to save energy resources.

by Piotr Jakub Kacperski