Have we forgotten how to...?

Have we forgotten how to live in a way that is not wasteful of our planet's resources?
Says she, burning electricity by the kilowatt, typing words into a computer.
Yes its a bit ridiculous,but I am not preaching to anyone, just posing a question.
A while back we visited the HMS Belfast- fascinating insight into life on board ship.I was struck by how cramped it was in the men's bunk room reconstruction, with dummies in hammocks wearing aran sweaters,playing cards.
In the gift shop on the way out,there was an advertisement from the WW2 years.A perplexed looking lady and the caption, 'Take good care of your gloves!' Then a paragraph explained how if you lost them you may not get another pair, because wool was so scarce.
I don't know what I found the most noteworthy about this.The fact that someone in a ministry somewhere thought this a necessary warning, or the fact that gloves were not to be had, for love nor money.
I especially, as a child of the 1960s, never knew what it was to go without, for things to not be available.You might not have the money for them right away, but they could be had, they were in shops, there was no problem of supply.
Have we gone too far, now there are more of everything than anyone needs and we are somewhat cavalier about our possessions- such as gloves.Talking of cavaliers- I made a pair to order recently using this pattern . The hand are knitted and the gauntlet part crocheted. It might be easy to adapt a glove pattern or even bought gloves by crocheting the gauntlet part.