Why a year of penny pinching will help achieve our eco aims

But only if the four-year-old can reach the light switches, says Kate Hughes

A lightbulb moment: saving energy will be a priority this year (Getty)

Christ alive. Could you all just turn the lights off after you leave a room?” I shout down the stairs. “It’s like Blackpool Illuminations up here,” I mutter as I stamp around making my point felt through the floorboards.

I sound like my dad. Actually, no, I don’t think my dad or my mum ever said anything like that. I sound like a sitcom parent. “Am I really the only person who can flick a switch in this house?”

Maybe there are uber households out there whose angelic inhabitants always eat with their mouths closed, use a handkerchief instead of their sleeve and always, always turn the lights off when they leave a room. And that’s just the adults.