I am a proud prepper and you should be, too

• By Lara Williams / Bloomberg Opinion

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Prepping, once an activity for conspiracy theorists and the paranoid, has officially gone mainstream. The British government launched its “Be Ready” campaign last month, encouraging people to stock up on vital supplies such as water and non-perishable food.

While three days’ worth of provisions might not seem like a foolproof plan for surviving the apocalypse, the recommendations are worth heeding. They provide a basic layer of resilience that should carry you through everything from a bad bout with the flu to a multi-day power cut.

The response to the program was immediate: Retailers noted a dramatic increase in the sales of prep-friendly items, with supermarket Iceland reporting a 40 percent rise in the sales of tinned goods the weekend after the campaign launched and electronics store Maplin seeing a surge in torch and radio sales.

On a more personal level, my husband and I were inundated with missives from our families encouraging us to buy bottled water. That was a sure sign the message had landed.

We felt pretty smug. In June last year, I decided to venture into the world of prepping, so we already have 18 liters of water stashed in our shoe cupboard, plenty of tins and a wind-up radio. Of course, that satisfaction faded upon seeing how London’s super-rich are prepping. I can confidently say that we will never have an underground cinema room that also functions as a nuclear shelter with its own water and power supplies.

The UK joined a host of other countries, including Japan, Norway, Sweden and France, in pushing out emergency preparedness advice to their citizens. Coupled with the US’ FORTRESS (Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply and Survivability) initiative, which aims to make US military bases self-sufficient for at least 90 days, this prompts some questions: Should we panic? How prepped do we really need to be? And if the US military is prepping for three months, and Norwegians for a week, is the UK’s three measly days even worth it?

It is notable that the UK has embarked on this campaign at all, as it has tended to shy away from such messaging out of fear of scaremongering. It did make an effort in 2024, but the campaign was overshadowed by then-British prime minister Rishi Sunak announcing a general election. It is no use offering advice if no one knows it is there.

So why try again now? There has been no lack of reminders that the world is a risky place. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us what a global disaster could look like. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent disruption to gas supplies followed just as everything was starting to feel normal again. Now we have the war in Iran, worsening climate change and what some describe as an existential threat from artificial intelligence.

The government’s latest National Risk Register removed one threat this year — the disruption of Russian gas supplies — and added eight new ones, including cyberattacks and digital resilience failures. Others, including water infrastructure collapse, were deemed more likely or impactful. In that environment, its never too late to get people prepped.

From the government’s point of view, a disaster-ready populace makes a crisis marginally easier to deal with. For example, if 20 percent of people are stocked with water and food for a few days, that frees up time and resources to focus on the most vulnerable populations. It works even better if those 20 percent are also looking out for their neighbors. Sweden calls this “collective preparedness.” So do not worry if you are also lacking a home screening room/bomb shelter. Just stocking up on the basics is a big help in keeping the system running and those around you safe.

Of course, there will always be vulnerabilities you do not anticipate. I did not know hacked freezers were something we needed to worry about, but supermarkets in several European countries are dealing with the consequences of just that. (I am suddenly glad all my appliances are dumb.) The hack is a lesson in keeping things simple. Complex systems are more likely to fail, so rather than trying to set up a high-tech panic room or worrying about air filtration, just stick to basic provisions such as tinned food, spare batteries and blankets.

If you are still not convinced that prepping is necessary, consider that we are heading into a winter facing the combination of climate change and an exceptionally strong El Nino. More than 800,000 properties across the UK lost power during storms Austen and Boelo late last month, and many more severe storms are expected over the next few months.

Nuclear bunker-style prepping is, hopefully, overkill, but your life would be so much safer and easier if you do not have to pop out for toilet paper in gale-force winds.

Lara Williams is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change. This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.