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Okay, so I've been working this supposedly "environmental" job, but here I've found that it's such long hours, that some wasteful habits have been creeping back in. Convenience foods, industrially-processed foods, too much packaging, big bills. I want to curtail those, both for moral reasons and for the sake of my pocketbook and waistline. I want to simplify. This winter is going to be a big experiment with just HOW simple I can go with my living expenses and creature comforts.
Please understand, I'm not doing this to punish or deprive myself. I actually enjoy having a simpler way of life, and I know it wouldn't be for everyone. But I thought it might be interesting to hear about, since we're all feeling the pinch of the economy right now. Maybe it will end up being a really funny comedy of errors, or maybe you could use one or two things I learn, and disregard the rest. I'm sick of hearing friends and family tell me how they've had to compromise, do things they wouldn't normally do, just to make ends meet. Some people I know have two or even three jobs! Credit cards, mortgages, kids, college debt, hospital bills... jeez. For crying out loud, is it even fun to see the sun come up in the morning any more?
I want to like seeing the sun come up. I want to know that the work I do is saved against future need, not squandered lining some stranger's pockets. So this winter will be the beginning of a big experiment in simplicity.
What do I have to start with? Well, a ridiculous amount of college debt. A job I really love that still lands me squarely below the poverty line. An old drafty farmhouse that I can live in for very low rent, but it's impossible to heat in the winter. The house is on a hill, though, so there's good drainage, and it stays warmer in winter and cooler in summer for that reason. Someone was even decent enough to plant a big evergreen tree to the north, and deciduous trees to the south-- the beginnings of passive solar heating and cooling! There's lots of decent land all around, and birdsong and great views of the rolling Appalachian foothills.
My plan is to buy a beater truck, get it marginally fixed up.
Leave the electricity on for the winter (my woodburning stove uses some, and my animals need a heat lamp left on for them), but turn off the propane and move into the room with the woodburning fireplace, which I will turn into my office/bedroom/dining room/etc.
I'm going to turn off the water lines and winterize them, and haul water in in jugs. I'll keep two big stockpots of water on the stove at all times to add humidity and maintain a supply of hot water for bathing, cleaning and cooking. I'll throw a teapot on there too. I can also cook on top of the stove, or in the fire itself-- did you know that many old recipes contain pinches of fire ash? And I can use everyone's favorite cookware material-- cast iron.
I'll use an outhouse for #2, composted with ashes from the fireplace. Not that many people know this (I didn't until recently), but #1 isn't good for outhouses. It's too much nitrogen. #1 should go on the ground somewhere, preferably where plants can use it. So I'll figure out a modest, feminine system for doing that! Should be an interesting challenge :)
I'll compost all food waste outside, layered with hay, leaves, or ashes.
...So that's just a start. According to my budget projections, if I live this way I should be able to stay warm, eat well, and sock away at least $400 a month in savings! I could even start saving money for my kid's future. Or for unanticipated hospital bills, or car repairs. WOW.
So this is Phase One. If this works out, then I'll graduate to Phase Two-- outfitting the whole house to be comfortable and sustainable, and operating the place as an intern house/hostel/educational facility. I would switch over to a greywater system and stop using the septic tank. I would install in-house composting toilets so folks wouldn't have to walk out in the snow and stick their keesters out in subzero weather just to use the john. I would install passive in-ground refrigeration, and probably one more wood stove on the other side of the house. Insulate the house-- right now it's totally uninsulated cement block.
Phase Three would be learning to build my own house from earth-based materials, so that I could be a resource for other people who'd like to have a house and life without mortgaging everything to the bank or to jobs they hate. Pie-in-the-sky, I know, but not impossible. Sidenote: earth-based houses don't have to have a "hippie" aesthetic, although they can if that's your sort of thing.
So we'll see how this goes! I'm sure I will have many amusing stories to tell of all the mistakes I'll make, and about freezing my tuckus off. I'll probably need to drink a fair amount of whiskey.
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