I'm sure you're all familiar with the wood stove. It eliminates so much of the need for gas and electricity and all it asks for is some logs to keep it burning. It cooks, heats your home and water, and dries your hair, dishes, and clothes, all while being a cozy addition to your living room. Some more heavy duty "wood cook stoves" can even bake and have warming drawers.
You'd cook on the wood stove or in a solar oven outside. You might can and preserve in place of a refrigerator. A french press, whistling kettle and hand whisk could be used rather than relying on a bunch of fancy machines.
You would live by the light of beeswax candles and oil lamps. If you need more direct light, you could buy a rechargeable solar lamp.
If you like to sew or quilt, or just need to repair some ripped clothes, you could buy a treadle (foot-powered) sewing machine or just sew by hand. If you write a lot, you have the option of buying a manual (non-electric) typewriter or just using pen and paper to lower laptop use and distractions.
To clean your house, you'd use traditional brooms and mops instead of vacuum and steam cleaners. Hand scrubbers to reach the nooks and crannies, and cleaning cloths to wipe up spills and the like. Wool and feather dusters are a good investment whether you're on or off grid.
When the time comes to wash your linens, you could use a basin and washboard or a hand crank washing machine for less mess. For dishes, you could use a basin (or sink, if you have one,) rags, and scrubbing brushes. When you're done, you'd hang them out to dry on racks outside or in front of the wood stove.
Entertainment is by far the easiest to substitute. Every once in a while. you could go to the used bookstores and buy boxes of non-electrical entertainment dirt cheap. Alternatively, you could cook and bake, which is free if you produce your own ingredients. Meditation and yoga are two more free activities. You might choose to pursue the arts of writing, drawing or painting, or perhaps you just want to strum on your bass guitar on a rainy afternoon. Taxidermy, hunting, and fishing are all expensive but incredibly rewarding ways to pass the time. Learn to unite your hunting, fishing and gardening yields in a cast iron pot atop the stove.
Maybe enough electricity to charge some portable devices, like a phone and laptop. Perhaps power a fan in hot climates. Running water is my primary concern, although I'm sure you could learn to live without it. Composting toilets, solar showers and sponge baths are always options.
An old truck will haul you, your pooch and your produce to and around the nearest town while being affordable enough to keep you out of debt. Speaking of dogs, they did just fine without electricity hundreds of years ago, maybe even better than they're doing today. Same with cats. They'll be fine.
(This is mostly just a think piece. I feel like we always need so much less than we think we need, even when living "off the grid.")
Submitted September 02, 2017 at 06:57PM by Akatatsu http://ift.tt/2etZ8BB
