Reply #20: Most older people i know consider those days the "good times" [View All]

There has been a lot lost in the speed and "ease" of today.



Knowing for some time, the strain our previous power was putting on the planet we began moving ourselves away from power in areas we felt would be possible without making us feel deprived. We've replaced most of our small electrical appliances with hand powered or do without. We use things like a whirley pop to make popcorn (fun for the kids) as a snack and are planning to grow our own this year. I tend to think that our hand powered french press coffee maker makes the best coffee i've ever tasted. (Some of these are not much of a power use change at this point due to an electric stove being used for things like heating the water but we're moving toward wood for heating water, the environment and for cooking) I currently do a portion of our laundry by hand and line dry. We keep chickens for eggs, a goat for eventual milk and a garden.

We have not had cable in years and run a small 17 inch LCD tv for the kids to watch movies and only run a larger tv for occasional family movie nights. Family board games, lots of reading, outdoor projects done together are things that fill up extra time for us.

We have plans (crossing fingers on the goodwill of the health dept.) to build an energy efficient straw bale home this summer. In the mean time we've been living (6 of us when my 18 yr old is home) in a 900 sq ft two bedroom apt with one bath. Our smaller place runs less power to heat and we run no heat in our own bedroom because we find it too warm with a feather comforter. Our teens, who also spend time with their father, have really taken to the changes. They have really stepped up and seem to be thriving under it all.

Right now, we keep a single phone. Until very recently we kept two older cars which were completely paid off and we're now looking to transfer any value in those vehicles to a diesel truck which we plan to convert to bio diesel.


One area we've been having trouble cutting power use and getting back to a simpler mind frame is with the computers. We depend on them for all of our news, much social, entertainment and communication. We run (at ridiculous expense) satellite because our location currently has no other options. We'd like to upgrade our computers, or more accurately monitors, to run as efficiently as possible because we want to be on a generator and solar before the end of the year and we want to be sure we're accustomed to living within the power restrictions well before then.

It is hard to convey to people how enriching some of these changes have been to our family. Many people look at us as if we must feel deprived but the opposite is true. We feel more in control, less scattered and more content.