Accomodations to low energy living
I've decided to try and live spending as little, or no electricity or water, to see how I like living that way! I unplugged my fridge a while ago, and at first it was great. The only setbacks were sourdough starter (which I dried to keep safe) and not being able to keep cooking margerine for making cakes (gets moldy out of fridge).
Since then I also found out that a lot of opened jars will catch mold in days if not refrigerated, and I dislike the taste of nettle infusion if its not cooled down. For these reasons, I'll be making a diy fridge. It will function on the same principle as the regular fridge, only on a small scale and without power. I've seen it made by wrapping a clay pot with a wet cloth, putting it in a bigger pot, filling the bigger one with sand, then pouring water in the sand. Some water is then added every day.
The wet sand keeps the cloth wet, water keeps evaporating and using the heat from the clay pot, so inside of clay pot will be super cold!
My problem is, I don't have a clay pot, or any extra pot at all. I have a big jar, and a small bucket I found outside. I'm gonna bring in some sand and then see if I can make it happen using those tools! I'm gonna post about it when I'm setting it up.
I haven't used the water heater at all; instead when I wanna shower I heat some water in my kettle, scrub using a washcloth and soap, then pour warm water all over to rinse. I actually love this. Poured water is so gentle on the skin and feels luxurious to me, I don't miss the harsh shower spray.
I've been in the forest almost every day looking for mushrooms to sustain myself and this worked out great! I found so many, I've been eating and drying them every day. I wondered if I could possibly get tired of eating mushrooms and the answer is no. Mushrooms are delicious every single day. Okay except luridiformis neoboletus, I did get tired of that one after a while.
I'm aware I can only find mushrooms so easily because I know the forest so well and know exactly where to look. This will change after I move from the city and have a completely new and unexplored forest to forage; I hope I can make it work again! I should draw a map and draw a little cross at every place I ever see a good mushroom, like a treasure map for mushrooms, to make it easier. Thanks to my foraging efforts, I didn't have to buy anything except a little pack of lentils and oil.
I didn't turn my heater on either, and for now its working out okay. I'm wearing my warmest sweater and eating mushroom soup multiple times a day and I'm feeling alright! My throat hurts a little and wakes me up at night but that could be for any other reason.
The only appliances I do use are my electric kettle and stove. I would be using my laptop but my hard disk malfunctioned and it's a menace to get the old disk working; it might take a while to repair.
I feel accomplished! Life didn't get noticeably harder or less happy, I get to diy a fridge, I'm working on a crochet project and eating my weight in mushrooms. I think I'll be happy living in a forest this way, using fire to cook and heat water. I know this wouldn't work for everyone and I'm just lucky to be a little rat woman who enjoys nothing as much as defying capitalism.
