Getting rid of the stove is one thing but no fridge? Hmm... it actually sounds doable and kind of a good idea to boot.

[www.chelseybraham.com]

No, not on raw. I like being able to save a bit by buying a bit extra when things go on sale.

I think the half fridge like they have in many parts of Europe is very doable for people on many diets though. I often see people at the grocery store buying carts full of non-perishibles.

Did you read the article? There were good suggestions for alternate cooling methods. This is eventually something I'd like to do.

We all saw "No Impact Man," right? This idea is great if you live where you can walk or bike to shop for groceries, and can be assured of constant availability. Me, I don't live in Paris or Manhattan, so this won't work. Unless I want to drive my car a lot more, which cancels out the benefit of going fridge-free. I can't even store stuff outside in the winter because of the little animalitos. And big ones, like deer!

Uh, yeah, I read the article. Did you read it?

The alternatives sounded lame to me, save the smaller under counter fridge, which I mentioned as a possibility for some diets.

Buying food everyday? It eats up a bunch of time going to and from the store and standing in the checkout line 7 times a week instead of once or twice. I'm also more likely to stray from my diet if I'm feeling tired or rushed as many people are before and after work. Plus, depending on your mode of transport, you may be wasting the energy and money you're trying to save.

Thermoelectric cooling: "Its main disadvantage is that it cannot simultaneously have low cost and high power efficiency." - Wiki What's the point of replacing an inefficient fridge with an inefficient heat pump?

Outside: I can't keep the squirrels, bunnies, and raccoons out of my compost or bird seed even with metal containers and weighted lids, how am I going to keep them out of my own food if I put it outside? I also have no way of controlling the temperature. Fluctuating temps are not good for most foods.

I think the article also overlooked that most people in the US and Canada already have full-size refrigerators in their homes. Replacing these with other models that aren't significantly more efficient creates tons of waste without much benefit.

Anyway, good for the blogger for trying to dream up ways to be environmentally conscious, but I don't think the suggestions were viable.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2011 03:43PM by veghunter.

Well, I already keep some things in the enclosed back porch during cool months. It doesn't freeze out there and many things are fine if stored at an unspecified cool temp. Whole nuts and seeds, lots of fruits and veg, etc do just fine. In the summer it's so much easier to get around by bike, I would have little trouble stopping off for fresh produce on my way home daily. Plus having a little garden, container and/or hanging plants, even sprouts makes for fresh daily harvest. I may give this a go sometime, as an experiment first before I'd consider unplugging the beast for good.

I don't understand this very well yet but this looks interesting for things that must be refrigerated.

[www.koolatron.com]

And these are awesome alternate food storage methods.

[www.omick.net]

Koolatrons are cool ^_^

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

No Fridge? I don't know where I would keep my film!

Hee hee hee Swimmer!

coco Wrote:
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> I don't understand this very well yet but this
> looks interesting for things that must be
> refrigerated.
>
>
>
>
> And these are awesome alternate food storage
> methods.
>
> [www.omick.net]
> vation.htm

I clicked on the home page from that site & viewed their way of living. It does seem neat to be able to homestead like that, but in todays' modern world, who has time to live like that?

You would have to limit or cut out most things you now do entirely, just to make time to carry water, wash clothes by hand (or by feet, in this instance), take showers using a suspended bucket filled by hand, etc., etc.

Guess I am spoiled by the easy life of modern convenience...

I am strongly considering this inconvenient, time consuming lifestyle for myself. When I think about what we spend out time on now I find it appaling. Really, there is enough time in the day to attend to your needs and not much else, just like an animal. If we were all living like that the world would not be in such a state I am certain. It's our pursuit of luxury and convenience that's landed us in the proverbial handbasket if you know what I mean...

Maybe I am misunderstanding you, coco, but I don't know. You can simplify without willingly traveling back to the Iron Age. Progress in living styles was made because the simple tasks of living became too precarious/dangerous/onerous, and whole civilizations finally realized they were simply treading in place from birth to death. Like brute animals.

I think the trick is finding the right balance between modern creature comforts and lo-fi living. Personally, I would rather not ever be put into a position where I'd be forced into primitivism--we all remember Lord of the Flies, right?

The trouble is we all want our cake and eat it too. If there is a luxury to be had nearly every single human within range of it lusts for it and aims to have it. It's sad and sick and so incredibly destructive. There doesn't seem to be a way to temper the general populace in terms of need vs greed. If there is a way to profit from something, no matter how ridiculous or wasteful, you can bet some company somewhere will take advantage of it and we the sheeple will just jump right on board. Yargh! Often I feel that the only way out of this consumer hole IS in fact a trip backwards into primitivism. The idealistic picture you paint would only work if we could all be trusted to adhere to those principles on an individual level and frankly I just don't have that sort of faith in humanity anymore. It's all just too tempting...

Well,

I am certainly not a sheeple, lol...but I am not about to spend all day carrying water & stomping on clothes to wash them.

I spend a good deal of free time sawing/cutting/splitting firewood, & I guess that's about as rustic as I want to get!

If we all got a little bit more rustic we could balance things out I suppose. It seems to be moving in the opposite direction for most people though, even in 2nd and 3rd world countries and places where there have never been large numbers of personal cars etc.

in the U.S. record numbers have been moving out of the big cities for awhile now... may not do much, would be nice though if we could concentrate on developing better technologies for things we NEED and stop putting so much resources into just developing technology to give us things we WANT... I think that change in direction would help to create that balance...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

i think that growing ones own food is a good idea
having trees full of all kinds of luscious fruit and nuts
having all manners of green yummy plant foods

this would be ideal
and would be a good solution to having a fridge

pick fresh
eat

and that's it

it would be awesome LV...thats my dream!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

I lived almost a month without a fridge on the road in the tropics, it was surprisingly easy to do. I just got smaller lots of the more perishable foods and the rest I could leave at room temp. the trick with greens is to put them in water so they don't wilt, so buying by the bunch is the best option.

Still, at home my fridge is a convenience I'd rather not do without, but at least I know I can.

if i can somehow master growing large amounts of food year round i could see this as doable

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I've been looking at geodesic domes and other greenhouses lately. If I take all the money I have set aside for school and get some sort of property going with a mud hut (adobe/cob) and green houses, water cysterns etc, it would be a tight financial squeeze but I could possibly make a go of it. But how would I make money to live on?

We could easily do this now, actually throughout most of the winter months, as it does stay quite cold here. Some stuff would actually freeze though, tonight they are calling for 9 degrees.

Would be a minor inconvenience for the rest of the family, but I would do it if they would follow suit. It would shave a nice portion off the elect. bill for the winter.

lulz no. I love the fridge and am obsessed with opening the door and sticking things on it.

coco Wrote:
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> Getting rid of the stove is one thing but no
> fridge? Hmm... it actually sounds doable and kind
> of a good idea to boot.
Well, it depends on where you live....city or country
and how often you shop. Some Raw Foodists overbuy and have to
refrigerate. It seems like you could do without cooling if you
grew your own food. But how many do that?...or would even want to?.....WY

I would love more than anything to be able to grow all or most of my own food, my dream is to someday run a small organic farm, staffed entirely with people I love.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Curator Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ........my dream is to someday
> run a small organic farm, staffed entirely with
> people I love.
That's a good dream to be having. I have some Dreams myself,
but I'm not as Bold as you are in revealing them.
I feel it's a 'must' for us to have Dreams.
Sorry coco for getting off-topic.....WY

Threads evolve all on their own, no need to appologize. My dreams certainly tie in to not having to own giant energy sucking machinery like fridges .

This is a neat little video about a 1940's fridge that's being cooled with spring water. One would have to have a spring I suppose. And figure out how to pump the water as well but you know, it was neat to see it being done anyhow.
[www.youtube.com]
Ignore the cheese. And give the video a thumbs up if you think it's neat too please, I like the fella who is filming this stuff and think he deserves a little encouragement. Thanks!