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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Sunday, February 11, 2007 Living simply My mother has mentioned her interest in living more simply, and several friends have brought up the subject as well. So I thought a discussion of what it means to live simply might be in order.There isn't any one good answer, of course. It means something different to different people, and even at different times to the same person. People talk about clearing out clutter in their lives, and not buying things they don't really need, or moving to the country or to less stressful work. All of those can be part of living simply. What it means to me is to live as low as possible on the "embedded energy" scale. People who work with alternative building materials speak of the embedded energy in different kinds of materials, the energy required to create that material and get it to the building site. The same is true of food and other manufactured items. Everything used by the typical consumer in the "developed countries" is the product of a long chain of other people's labor and of the burning of fossil fuels. Let's use a loaf of bread as an example. Surely the simplest way to acquire a loaf of bread is to drive to the store and purchase it. But consider what went into putting that loaf of bread on the grocery store shelf. Land on which to grow the wheat, tractors to plow the fields, combines to cut the wheat, other energy-consuming equipment to thresh, clean and store the wheat, an energy-consuming mill to grind the wheat into flour, an energy-consuming bakery to create the bread, plus packaging for the loaf and energy for the retail store in which it sat until it was purchased and taken home. That list doesn't even begin to address the fuel burned for transportation of the grain, the flour and the additional ingredients of the loaf, and to move the loaf to its final destination. Or the cost of the pesticides used on the fields and the creation and transportation of their ingredients. Or the water needed for irrigation. Or the labor of all the people involved in each step along the way. Every one of these steps adds embedded energy to that no-longer-simple loaf of bread.Now lets look at how one can move down the ladder of embedded energy. If I buy flour and make the bread myself, I've cut out the bakery and the trucks to move the bread from the bakery to the grocery store. If I buy grain, grind it myself and then make the bread, I've cut out another large group of energy consuming steps. If I could grow the grain myself, I could eliminate even more of them. So far, where bread is concerned, I have managed to move down the energy ladder to the point of buying the grain. The same is true no matter what kind of manufactured item you talk about. The closer you can get to the raw materials of manufacture, the less energy is used in the creation of the item.Some manufactured items obviously can't be made from scratch, including the computer I'm using right now. But the more things that get removed from the chain of factory-manufacture and large scale transportation, the more energy is available for things that are simply impossible for individuals to create for themselves.Cutting down on the raw cost of the materials is one aspect of living simply. Labor is another aspect, and that discussion will have to wait until I'm not hours behind on work deadlines. posted by Liz @ 4:07 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
My mother has mentioned her interest in living more simply, and several friends have brought up the subject as well. So I thought a discussion of what it means to live simply might be in order.There isn't any one good answer, of course. It means something different to different people, and even at different times to the same person. People talk about clearing out clutter in their lives, and not buying things they don't really need, or moving to the country or to less stressful work. All of those can be part of living simply. What it means to me is to live as low as possible on the "embedded energy" scale. People who work with alternative building materials speak of the embedded energy in different kinds of materials, the energy required to create that material and get it to the building site. The same is true of food and other manufactured items. Everything used by the typical consumer in the "developed countries" is the product of a long chain of other people's labor and of the burning of fossil fuels. Let's use a loaf of bread as an example. Surely the simplest way to acquire a loaf of bread is to drive to the store and purchase it. But consider what went into putting that loaf of bread on the grocery store shelf. Land on which to grow the wheat, tractors to plow the fields, combines to cut the wheat, other energy-consuming equipment to thresh, clean and store the wheat, an energy-consuming mill to grind the wheat into flour, an energy-consuming bakery to create the bread, plus packaging for the loaf and energy for the retail store in which it sat until it was purchased and taken home. That list doesn't even begin to address the fuel burned for transportation of the grain, the flour and the additional ingredients of the loaf, and to move the loaf to its final destination. Or the cost of the pesticides used on the fields and the creation and transportation of their ingredients. Or the water needed for irrigation. Or the labor of all the people involved in each step along the way. Every one of these steps adds embedded energy to that no-longer-simple loaf of bread.Now lets look at how one can move down the ladder of embedded energy. If I buy flour and make the bread myself, I've cut out the bakery and the trucks to move the bread from the bakery to the grocery store. If I buy grain, grind it myself and then make the bread, I've cut out another large group of energy consuming steps. If I could grow the grain myself, I could eliminate even more of them. So far, where bread is concerned, I have managed to move down the energy ladder to the point of buying the grain. The same is true no matter what kind of manufactured item you talk about. The closer you can get to the raw materials of manufacture, the less energy is used in the creation of the item.Some manufactured items obviously can't be made from scratch, including the computer I'm using right now. But the more things that get removed from the chain of factory-manufacture and large scale transportation, the more energy is available for things that are simply impossible for individuals to create for themselves.Cutting down on the raw cost of the materials is one aspect of living simply. Labor is another aspect, and that discussion will have to wait until I'm not hours behind on work deadlines.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
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PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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