The topic of green living is vast and variable. It would be quite easy to get lost in the details. I don't really want this blog to turn into a discussion of my lifestyle on a farm. Most of the people on the planet don't live on farms; and aren't going to, any time we can see in the future. We are now a city based species.
My life here is relevant to city life, however; I hope. I want to start one such conversation here today.
I live without a refrigerator. Have for 3 decades. If you live in a city- you do not need a refrigerator. AT ALL.
-->> It would be easier to do without one in the city than it is in the country.
A great deal of what's in your fridge absolutely does NOT need to be there. If you're interested in trying this, just start by taking all these things out of your fridge, and putting them in a pantry type situation:
Butter/margarine - shelf life about 2 weeks
Eggs -shelf life at least a week
Cheese - keep covered, shelf life variable- taste when unrefrigerated hugely better
ketchup/mustard - shelf life - forever
honey - shelf life - forever
onions/garlic - shelf life - 2 weeks
tomatoes - shelf life - 4 days
cabbage - shelf life - 1 week
cooking oil - shelf life - months
peanut butter - shelf life - months
Ok, long enough list for now, though of course there's more. Some of you are saying "he's crazy, I never keep cooking oil in the fridge!" True, I'm sure; but I know plenty of people who do; just to "be safe". And every time they take it out to cook dinner- the bottle warms up, the door is opened twice, and somewhere, some coal is burned to re-cool it when it goes back in.
What about meat? Milk?
Yeah, refrigeration is a good idea, if you have to keep it more than 6 hours or so.
So don't.
Here's what we do, out in the country; we buy a little meat when we go in to town, use it immediately. Sometimes, if it's a bigger cut like a pot roast, we keep it for 3 or 4 days- cooked on day one, and re-heated whenever eaten- then carefully simmered with the tight top on the pot. And we're very careful NEVER to open the pot- until ready to re-heat. It's just like sterilizing a petri-dish, or hospital equipment- heat it, keep it closed, it stays sterile. Soups- same thing.
Milk- we buy in town sometimes, or use powdered milk in cooking or for kids if they need it. No, it's not as tasty usually- but we all live through it. Can't tell the difference in cooking, I think.
Much of the rest of what folks use refrigerators for clearly comes under the category of "luxury". Ice cream; beer, pop.
Would you be better off if they weren't so handy? If you're like me, if the ice cream is there- I'll eat it. Then buy more. How much of our obesity epidemic is due to having a handy supply of treats in the fridge- all the time?
In a city- it's dead easy to "stop off" somewhere, and just buy - a little ice cream; a little meat; one cold beer.
On days when you aren't going out - do without. Won't kill ya to have potatoes and canned peas for dinner, or a cheese omelet.
This, potentially, is a big deal. Refrigerator lust is one of the things driving huge energy use increases in the developing world- everybody wants one; it proves you're modern.
If we start a movement here in the Overdeveloped World to get RID of them in homes (sure, the restaurants, the stores, need them) - some folks in the OverdevelopING World would pay attention- and perhaps put the brakes on their country's rush to refrigerate. Maybe.
I've worked in China- in places where the nearest refrigerator was probably 100 miles away. Guess what? They manage just fine- and don't "need" it, until you tell them they do.
It would be relatively easy for them to KEEP their healthy habits-rather than try to recover them, after a little romance with refrigerators.
More on this coming. Please send this around- and let me have your comments.
(OH, and true confession - I HAVE rented a locker at the "freezer plant" in town, from time to time. Not at the moment.)
Friday, March 30, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
58 comments:
Hmmm. That's a very intriguing idea. You know, you grow up with one and you just don't ever think of not having one.
I suppose we all rely on it merely for the convenience. Sure, I could stop by for my daily milk, yogurt, meat, etc. but it's so much more convenient to already have it there waiting for me at home.
And you're right, it's easier to do without in the city. We just don't have the culture of daily food shopping for the freshest produce, breads -- less European and more Costco.
Most of the rest of the world has aseptic style milk, so cold storage isn't as issue there (although it doesn't exactly taste the same and it doesn't make yogurt as well).
We don't eat much meat, if at all, so I suppose we could do without. But did I mention how convenient it was?
Crunchy Chicken- by golly, I think you did mention the convenience. :-)
But; and we'll cover my buts in more detail in coming posts-
Is the convenience REAL, or just habitual? Remember that this was one of the selling points drummed into us to get us to buy fridges.
And- is convenient good for us? Mostly it means- hey, you don't have to think, and you don't have to walk. Gotta say, I'm not at all sure either of those is good in the long run. Our convenient culture is largely the problem. I think.
Here's what we do, out in the country; we buy a little meat when we go in to town, use it immediately. Sometimes, if it's a bigger cut like a pot roast, we keep it for 3 or 4 days- cooked on day one, and re-heated whenever eaten- then carefully simmered with the tight top on the pot.
I lived in Latvia in 1993-94 (a few years after liberation from the USSR), staying with a family there who were managing more or less the way all Europeans had done 50 years before, during the post-WWII years. I was surprised by how little food they refrigerated and, at first, was sure I would come down with food poisoning. Your roast/stew method sounds exactly like our dinner ritual -- meat, stored in a cupboard! But there was a careful system in everything they did, and I never did get sick.
Oh wait, I did pick up a lovely parasite... one whose size measured in inches, not microns. But it was the kind you get from eating poorly washed raw vegetables, like tomatoes and lettuce. The main place I ate anything like that was at the new western-run bistro, where I'd splurge on a sandwich every week. Serves me right.
I don't think it's wise to encourage folks to get rid of the fridge without encouraging food storage. Life without a fridge is simple when you have a pantry full of grains, legumes, dried and canned fruits and vegetables, even smoked and canned meats. I'd hate for anyone to depend on supermarkets always being stocked.
One of the things we used to do was larding. You cook hamburger to where the meat is no longer pink but not fully cooked. Put into a jar and cover completed with melted shortening or lard. We would take it out once a week and reheat it, then recover the top. As you take meat out, you cover what is left with grease. Now, no one will recommend this as they are afraid of being sued. But it does work.
No fridge for us the last year and we've done this before. We'll likely use ice again in the summer, but I'm planning to learn how to can butter, milk and cheese. We have goats and will be milking soon.
Hmmm...I'm reading the list and I'm wondering if we might just pull that off. If we had our own goat or cow someday, the milk issue would be solved.
Do you use fermented foods often, and if so, do you have a good resource so that a person like myself can know if how to keep foods safe? Seems we've lost a lot of collective traditional knowledge in our age of "progress"
I'm sitting here in my little office right off my kitchen and after reading this I looked over and right next to me my HUGE fridge is looming over me. I opened the door and removed a lot of the items from your list. There's a lot of room in there! Downsizing is certainly achievable. Complete removal? - not an option. I know I just would never be able to bring myself to it. Not just yet, anyway.
Let's face it. The majority of people living in our 'civilized' culture are not going to buy into this after they have experienced the covenience. I would say that at least people could downsize.
My grandmother provided food for 5 people out of a minuscule fridge at our summer cottage which was far removed from any stores - a boat was needed to depart the little island. She lived at the cottage for 3 months every year and is now 92 and as strong as ever!
I love your blog. It's making me think. For so long I've been dormant to environmental issues. I have a friend who has introduced me to others as her "hippie" friend although I am far from that category. So far the furthest I've gone is composting, line drying laundry, CFL's (no sleep issues here), white vinegar for cleaning, no pesticides/herbicides, recycling. These contributions may not sound like much compared to your way of living but they're more than the majority of what my neighbors do.
I once told a friend that "I just don't feel like I'm doing enough" and her response was "you're doing more than your share." Her comment to me was unbelieveable. Afterall I'm a Costco buying, mini-van driver who has used disposible diapers for her children for 5 years for goodness sakes! Not very hippie like yet but I'm on my way.
Greenpa ~ I am sooo GLAD I discovered your blog via another blog. It really has me thinking!
We have *gasp* two fridges. I wanted to sell one last summer but my husband just didn't agree. Great for storage of excess...
I am totally rethinking that idea now and want to get rid of the second fridge.
Thank you for making me think.
Fascinating. I just realized how much JUNK I'm keeping cold, 24/7, that I just wind up throwing out anyway. The food I actually use takes up about a sixth or less of the space. My son and his girlfriend fill up the rest of it with convenience foods, condiments, ice cream, snacks and leftovers that never get eaten. Turning off the fridge would mean shopping more often but eating fresher food -- a major mind shift for Americans.
i've been playing around with this myself. if it were just me and my kids i could do it but the other adult would not be receptive to the idea.
i leave all sorts of stuff out to test their hardiness.so far, so good.
question on the eggs, how do you know when they've gone bad, the smell? do they instantly stink?
Terrific post!
Without intention, I'm essentially fridge/freezer-less...but wondered how common this was. Thanks for making me feel sane.
Since I'm on an island, I don't shop daily, but instead receive most everything via bulk shipments. These, I've wondered about...
Could I really get away with keeping a bulk jar of Mayo out of refrigeration? Do I want to risk testing this out? Of course, in the future, I'll ideally make a fresh batch as needed, so that would solve the whole dilemma.
Once a week I buy a bulk order of cooked poultry (a temporary thing) but see myself keeping some free range in the freezer in the future. So, I'm guessing I really do need a small freezer drawer, at least. Or?
Do you recommend a particular cooking pot brand that seems to work best for unrefrigerated meat cooking/storage?
I keep a week's worth of fresh organic fruits and veggies in a low, cool cabinet. However, fruit flies can be an issue (even if stored in sealable containers). Maybe I've just not found the ideal container? I've assumed this means I should really be refrigerating these things to avoid the hassle.
One of my favorite Mother Earth News articles (about fifteen years ago) displayed instructions on how to build an outdoor underground/stream fridge. I've always wanted one...but there are lots of rats on islands...ew...I might be too girly to deal with them near my food!
Well I have followed in yours and Vanessa (Green as a Thistle)'s lead and as of 7:37pm 9/29/07 I have unplugged the fridge. If it's ok with you, I would like to link to your blog within mine.
It's so quiet in the apartment without it. It's kinda... spooky. But a good feeling too. Eating fresh has reminded me what growing up on a farm was like. Thanks!
I am looking at living in a wall tent out in the country somewhere out west and this I think is going to be the trickiest part of living. Although I plan to work so I should have access to a grocer just about every day. Thanks for the information, I look forward to living a more simple life; one without a fridge.
And I thought living with a restored 1934 non electric ice box was pushing the limit.
Good for you!
~~ Pelenaka ~~
I realize I'm behind the curve on this, but I just happened onto this post.
I think it's a great idea to toss the fridge. I really hate mine -- it moans and groans and essentially makes the house like a scene from "Call of the Wild".
Unfortunately, there is also very little storage space in the kitchen ... so it's a major source of shelving for me. Bummer.
I'm rambling pointlessly, but the gist is -- this is a great idea and maybe I should shut up and just get a shelf to store my food on.
AND this aseptic milk idea, which I'd never thought of, may make it entirely possible.Woohoo!
Thx for the brainfood.
My fridge died today, I was never really comfortable with the idea of having the thing run constantly for mainly unnecessary things. I'll have to give up ice cream, the milk (must have organic milk) can keep at work but what do I do about romaine lettuce which I am addicted to? I live alone so don't use up food as quickly as a multiple person household would.
Am thinking that I will eat out more, I stockpiled food so I could eat at home for less expense, but, with the cash I save from not having a fridge maybe eating out won't be any more (and I'm not talking restaurants, mainly delis and Subway) expensive, and would be more convenient for me as I don't have a lot of time to cook.
And tansy's question about eggs, was unanswered, I'll raise it again, after being violently ill after eating an egg, this happened two times; just how does one know when the egg is starting to turn dangerous? The eggs that made me sick were from a free range farm and I'm blaming the sickness on the shell not being clean, the eggs themselves tasted and smelled just fine.
Tansy and Susan -- I've always tested my eggs for spoilage by putting the egg in question in a bowl of water. The saying goes that if it sinks, it's good; if it floats, there is air inside the shell in which bacteria can grow.
This may very well be an old-wives-tale quality story, but I've never had food poisoning except once from a kiwi fruit. I've used the method to test eggs left at room temp for days and eggs that survived my cats knocking the fridge door open for a weekend while I was out of town.
You're right green panther, I did a quick check about floating an egg, here's what I found from : http://www.ochef.com/789.htm :
Q:How can I tell if an egg is bad without breaking it?
A:Most everything has changed in the world of cooking in the past 250 years, but not the method for determining if you've got a bad egg.
There is a small air pocket in the large end of the egg. When the egg is fresh, the pocket is only about 1/8th of an inch deep and as large around as a dime. As the egg ages, however, it loses both moisture and carbon dioxide — shrinking — so that the size of the air space increases. And the size of the air space determines the buoyancy of the egg. So if you submerge a very fresh egg in water, it will lie on the bottom. An egg that is a week or so old will lie on the bottom but bob slightly. An egg that is three weeks or so old will balance on its small end, with the large end reaching for the sky. And a bad egg will float.
According to Harold McGee, author of On Food & Cooking (Canada, UK), Hannah Glass gave this practical advice to cooks around 1750, and it's as valid today — a "way to know a good egg, is to put the egg into a pan of cold water; the fresher the egg, the sooner is will fall to the bottom; if rotten, it will swim at the top."
Thank you! I guess that's a bit of nearly lost knowledge due to "progress".
well, shoot, I thought I'd answered the bad egg question. Ah well. You found my answer anyway, pretty much.
A few more details- the gas in the egg can be from spoilage, not just age- likely to be sulphur dioxide, which is what gives rotten eggs their renowned bouquet.
The ultimate trick is to crack each egg separately into a bowl and give it the eye and nose test. If it looks and smells ok; it pretty certainly is- unprotected eggs spoil very fast.
fridge and shelves- hey, the shelves still work with the power off ya know. :-) Or if you remove the fridge, you'll find a BIG hole- were you can put- shelves!
Anyway- glad you're here- let me know how you progress!
Thanks! I am grateful for the support. Now that I am over my initial panic from reaching into the freezer to get the ice cream only to feel hot air coming from the vent in the back!!! I'm actually getting a little excited about the possibility of new found space :-)
I doubt my landlord would be too excited about me chucking his fridge ... he's just not that kind of guy. To use it without power, I'd have to exercise some real self-control (at least at first)
I'm not quite ready to transition -- I'll have to reprogram myself to look for and buy the aseptic milk -- but way to go, Susan! I hope to be right there with you soon. The way my fridge motor sounds it may die any moment, anyway, which would be a big impetus.
Been a lot going on in my life, but with the new posts here I figured I should probably chime in. I've been fridgeless since a move I made in September, without mishap or really any missing either. Of course, I largely grew up that way, so the jump wasn't a big one. Embarrassed I didn't do it earlier. However at the moment I'm also living without a root cellar or outdoor (cold in winter) pantry, so there's actually even quite a bit less cold storage than I grew up with.
For keeping leftovers mostly I use the simmer-and-keep-the-pot-closed method (which I call pot canning). Note: this is much easier and faster (and maybe even takes less energy) if you have a microwave and microwaveable pots; in that case you also don't need it to be soupy to get the sterilizing live steam. Unfortunately, I don't have microwaveable pots at the moment : (.
I don't eat ice cream generally, so that isn't a problem. I use instant milk for nearly all my milk needs. Admittedly, I don't generally drink milk plain.
I eat a lot less meat– this is something I'd been intending to do for some time anyway. Plus, now the meat and cheese (and canned tuna, I'll admit) I do use are local and mostly organic. (And TASTY) I can afford it because I'm not eating as much. I still need quite a bit of protein; beans supplemented with sunflower seeds, peanuts and peanut butter. Also I've been rediscovering eggs recently. I currently have three left on the shelf from a dozen I bought about two weeks ago. I'll admit I didn't know the float test; bad eggs are pretty rare I guess.
Boy, that was a lot. I guess I should stop.
Oh, except for the question about lettuce. Many green vegetables like that can be kept quite happily as if they were a cut flower. You can keep them for a few days without, but they'll start to wilt and you might not like that. Recently I've been keeping cilantro for weeks in a water-filled cup. Just be sure you change the water often enough. This will vary with temp and health of the vegetable.
That's great news about the lettuce, I live for romaine. Does the simmer-and-keep-the-pot-closed method work for chicken and turkey too? I think beef might be a little more forgiving than poultry. Years ago I forgot a couple of pork chops left in a frying pan, it had a lid on it. I ate them for lunch the next day and they were just fine.
Hey Susan- yep, somehow I also have the feeling that beef and pork keep better than poultry, but I have fine success doing this with pretty much anything that spoils, including chicken. Of course, if you keep a big pot of chicken stew for a week and keep re-simmering it every day after you get your dinner out, the chicken falls apart in a somewhat less texturally pleasant manner than stewed beef. But that's a somewhat separate issue.
Don't think it was mentioned in the original post; but I usually close the pot and simmer for ten minutes before shutting the head off. When using a microwave, I basically just did it until there was hot live steam; time varies with the amount of food.
About the lettuce: I'll admit I haven't actually kept lettuce that way within recent memory, but have done other stuff. Suspect it should work; let us know!
And since I'm yakking already, I'll mention something else about the economics involved here. I'm currently living in an apartment with a roommate who is essentially fridge-addicted. It isn't currently worth the effort and strife for me to convince the roomie to go fridgeless, but rommie was happy for me to pay less on the electric bill because of it. Well, I did some digging and calculations (maybe I'll post those links here later), and determined that the fridge costs us about $3/month to run.
Pretty cheap, yeah? Especially out of a $30 bill. Not going to subsidize a whole lot of fresh vegetable purchases. But the generation and transmission related components of the bill (those are the ones actually having to do with the amount of electricity used) add up to only $9. Yup, on average about 1/3 of the electricity in that apartment goes to the fridge.
The electricity is artificially cheap, but the energy consumption is really substantial. Maybe I'll be able to convince my roommate to deduct the price for the carbon that fridge is producing, too.
Just found a great site for no-fridge cooking: http://cruisenews.net/recipes/concepts.php
This person travels a lot on his boat. Can't wait to try the Chick Pea Curry.
okay greenpa & y'all--I did it! I've been unplugged for almost an hour now...and I emailed some friends to spread the word and keep me from slipping back into my nasty old ways. Thank you for your encouragement to pull the plug!
I might try this. I'm going into my second year of college, and the only thing I really use my fridge for is keeping beer cold -- which will be pretty easy in the winter.
In short, you're inspiring, and rock on.
I've been fridgeless for two weeks now. So far it's only been a minor inconvenience, the cold weather has helped, I keep the milk and eggs in the carport. While searching ways to keep butter in the summer I came across something called a zeer pot, it probably won't work here as it gets quite humid in the summer but I just might give it a try anyway, here are the instructions: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Pot-
in-a-Pot-Refrigerator
thanks, susan--good to hear (about the zeer pot). My mom never did refrigerator butter, so I never really knew that I was "supposed" to. I've never had any problems with just sticking it in a small bowl and leaving out out (unless you count using it a lot more often when it's in sight a problem). Even with the humidity I would think that you'd be alright. You could cover it with something if you really wanted to (like the old butter dishes with the tops). Good luck!
Correction: mustard definitely will go bad without refrigeration, even unopened. It will take at least over a year or two though. Refrigerated, it will last for quite a few years. Yellow mustard will turn browner, and smell and taste funny when it starts to go bad.
It's not really in the same category as honey and sugar.
In 1980, I moved into an apartment in Jamaica Plain (Boston) that had no fridge and we were all too cheap to buy one. In winter, we kept milk on our back porch. I already knew that butter keeps fine in a covered butter dish on the counter indefinitely. I still keep butter that way and in some countries it's standard practice. Ditto for eggs; the local Hispanic-run store stacked their eggs in the middle of the store, no refrigeration. I figured if an egg was bad I could smell it on opening it up. Never got sick from eggs.
Anyway, in this vegetarian house, the meat issue never came up. It was a bit inconvenient, and we did eventually buy an old fridge, but we managed without it for about 9 months. Where I live now, I can't walk to any stores, and I think buying food every day would use more energy than running a fridge. But when this one goes, I'll look for a smaller one. Older fridges are total energy hogs.
I can confirm that fresh herbs keep fine on a counter in a glass of water for days. Also, tomatoes lose their taste when refrigerated and should always be kept at room temp. I also don't buy any but local tomatoes in season--no reason to buy those hard, smell-less ones grown in Argentina or wherever. Onions, garlic, potatoes should also not be refrigerated. Unfortunately, pure maple syrup always gets moldy when left out; so does jam, and I refrigerate both. I wonder about mayo at room temp.
Also, in my JP apartment, we routinely left out grain dishes overnight and ate them the next morning for breakfast cold or reheated, with never an ill effect. I still do that sometimes.
It's a shame that people have become so afraid of food. Authorities warn against eating anything left out of refrigeration for more than 2 hours. For some things, that might be wise, but for lots of stuff it's just so much hogwash. A frightened populace is easier to manipulate. I remember when raw chicken was not a toxic substance, when you didn't have to worry about getting mad cow disease from beef or unwanted hormones from milk.
Thanks for an inspiring example of self-sufficiency and green living.
Okay, I just found this post - sorry I'm so late! Does anyone else here live (a) in a hot climate and/or (b) in the 'burbs? This is my situation. I'm wondering what adjustments, if any, should be made in a place that stays above 60 most of the year and tops out at 110 or so. In high summer, when hot water is coming out of the "cold" tap, I'd sorely miss ice and cold drinks! Plus, I just worry about the heat. Also, I live in the suburbs and buy pastured meat from a farm about an hour away - I have to buy a quantity of it at once. My food sources are somewhat far flung, there's no public transportation, and it's just not really feasable for me to buy food daily. I think for us a very small (dorm-size?) fridge would be a good solution. Any thoughts on either of these points?
Anonymous (Jamaica Plain) -- its my understanding that mayonnaise is fine at room temp as long as it has never been refrigerated.
I worked in a restaurant where we stored and used mayo in this fashion, and as far as I know we never had trouble. Opening and using it, refrigerating it, and then bringing it back to room temp is the danger area, I believe.
I think this may well be fate. My husband and I have been investigating ways to become "greener" and yesterday was one way that kicked us in the rear. When we got back from grocery shopping, found our refrigerator was kapoot. And the funny thing, we'd been talking about being non electrical all day. Guess this will really test our grit, since we have no means of buying a new one right now. So, I googled "living without a refrigerator", and this blog page popped up. Great stuff, Greenpa! I so want to live this way. I'm a little scared, I must admit, because I've grown up with a fridge, and I've always done "freezer cooking" to have food always on hand. So, living without one will be a MAJOR culture shock, but after my initial "fit" that I threw because the fridge didn't work, I'm actually ok with it. Still looking for more resources on how to live without one. Will be curing my own meats soon, and I'm looking forward to that. Will be gardening for us soon as well, which I haven't done since I was a kid. The good thing is, I love this way of life, and hope to be pretty darn good at it :) Thanks for blogging!
For the last month we've chosen to live without our refrigerator and haven't missed it once. Our only problem is we haven't been able to sell it and it's only a year old! I searched online for helpful hints on what to do without a refigerator and your blog came up. Fantastic blog and thanks for the info.
This has been a funny week! Our refrigerator started working again, but it WILL stop eventually. I plan to unplug it before EVENTUALLY anyway. Then the TV that we only have for watching DVDs went out. Oh, well, we get a lot more done around the house :) We'll never miss the TV. We've been without television or cable for almost a year anyway!
And to Tara...
to answer your question...late, I too live in the city, not far from the city you're in. I don't see why we can't do this "no fridge" thing. I'm still learning, but i think if we have a pantry with "stuff" in it, we don't really need a fridge. As Greenpa said, it's easier in the city than in a remote area. If we just have to have cold meat for dinner, all we have to do is run by the store on the way home and use it that night :)
Hi... we don't have a fridge right now and while searching for options in our daily menu i stumbled upon your blog. It's very very very encouraging, but you didn't mention the temperature of the place you are located in. We are lucky on most days when its normal, but when the temperatures rises to about 38-40 degree celcuis, the eggs crack open if we don't submerge them in water, and sometimes they get bad, so its good we're green right now, but we will be getting a small fridge as soon as we can and a lot of the stuff sold in the city is not fresh so it gets bad when its out of the ac environment, even when its raw sometimes. We have honey, butter n all the stuff you mention, but its not so bad to be able to reheat last nites pizza for brkfast, we work too hard so we're not gonna get obese for sometime hahaahaaaa but i agree withyou on the whole ice-cream bit and you know diabetes is so scary, one of every five indians ha it, and tho im girl by indian standard im disastrous in the kitchen. And also indian cooking has lots of vegetables within the meat dish, so the onions or tomatoes are going to spoil the party first, followed by the potatoes, even if you sterelize it! But you should probably paste a recipe of how you make the meat best so it doesnt get spoiled. thanks anyway. Very useful. i fwded to my better half :)
I came across this post (and the blog) while doing a google search for food poisoning from eggs.
I've known that a lot of stuff doesn't need refrigeration, (like butter can be kept in a butter bell), but this post and the comments have really opened my eyes, and have me thinking.
I'll be moving early next year and living alone. If I have the option, I'm going to go with a small cube fridge for things that I must chill like wine, water, milk, yogurt. And yes, I need my filtered water chilled, it's quirk, but I can't stand drinking water that isn't frigid.
ChazFrench- welcome! Regarding your need for frigid water- I wonder.
We've kind of been spoiled in America, and we're encouraged by the whole consumer culture to announce/pronounce that we "NEED" stuff. Like MTV, for example :-).
Bearing in mind that the entire UK loathes frigid beverages- and are just as adamant about it as you are- it seems likely that most humans COULD adapt- in either direction.
If you're up for the experiment- you could pretend; for a week; that it's WWII, and your country NEEDS you to drink plain water straight out of the filter (or something similarly motivating for you). Just for a week- no other options.
Then, at the end of the week, see if your preferences are still so absolute. I'd be fascinated to hear the results!
:-)
I'm flexible, myself- for purposes of full disclosure. On a hot sweaty day, I'll cheerfully drink tepid water, and love it- but I'll also walk an extra 100 feet or so if I can get cold water from the well - at about 45°F.
hello greenpa, since the discussion is about cold, cool and lukewarm water, i thought i should tell you. (you must try)That if you keep water in an earthen pot it will become cold irrespective of how hot it is. Even if the environment temperature is up to 40degrees celcuis (like delhi gets in the summers)it will still be like a cold. It works like magic and harms noone, not the environment, not the bills and not the human-body. N you don't need a fridge. We all have fridges but its believed to be unhealthy to drink very chilled water if you came home from the hot sun and thats when 'matke ka paani' meaning 'water from the earthen pot' is just heavenly... try it, i dont know where you are from so i dont know if you will find an earthen pot easily but its quite scientific because the pot has one way pores that take the heat out and don't let it get in, over n above the earth cools the water...any earten pot will do and many come with a faucet attached...
I live in a small RV and don't run my fridge (it's a hassle in an RV).
buying in small lots can work.
If you're living communally, in India people have a way of always having milk available without refridgeration.
The local milk seller has a huge wok and constantly simmers the milk very slowly. You buy small quantities of milk from him just before use.
This milk is considered vastly superior to 'packet milk' (refridgerated, pasteurized milk).
Dearest,
so happy to hear from you. I'm writing from Berlin, Germany and now hear me: Since ever I hadn't this completely silly, loud and awful maschine, called a refrigerator. And hear this: People who even eat food which is frozen, are really not ok in their body and brain. Not even an animal eats frozen food. What of course ice-cream not includes. But fish, bread, meat and others.
I feel so happy. Since at least 10 years I try my best to convince people that they don't need a fridge AT ALL, for NO food. Normally I ask them to tell me ONE food which could need a fridge.
Most tell me then beer and butter. To the item butter you told something. Butter you put in a clay-bin, its then colder inside the bin.
To beer this: You just let out 20 liters of waters out of your water-tap. Water will be very cold enough for cooling beer (env. 11 degrees C.).
Milk by the way is in the mode you can buy it in the supermarket a nearly dead product. Unopened you can leave fresh milk nowadays around one week in the room with 20 centigrades Celsius. After open milk you only have to care about hygiene.
In the end stupid people have the chuzpe to leave their living-place expending energy there.
Without fridge I not even live better, means in better health, but pay aswell for my electricity 10 Dollars a month. And I have aswell a washing-maschine and a computer.
My best greetings to you, very nice that you exist and I'm not longer alone.
Stefan
I couldn't imagine not having one, its just one of those things taht we take forgranted these days.
Thanks for sharing
http://www.emsenergy.com/refrigeration/
Yes but how much more energy are u expending in fuel for trips into town all the time?
Anon- lol; no extra energy for trips into town; that would be silly, yes? We only go to town when needed for some other reason.
I'm a reporter for the New York Times and often do stories about green living. I am interested in interviewing people for a story about living without a refrigerator. Enjoyed reading this conversation thread and am hoping some of you who have unplugged or are thinking of doing so (including Greenpa) will chat with me. My e-mail is:
stevenkurutz@earthlink.net Thanks.
This post is fantastic and gives me confidence! I will be living in a flat without a fridge for about a month. I know certain fruits and veggies will keep for longer amounts of time, but I had no idea about things like butter, eggs, etc. Now I don't have to eat RAW all the time! I am still a little confused about the meat issue however- how does that work again? I love making quick chicken dishes for dinner.
Very interesting idea.
I think I would be too scared to do the meat sterilising trick.
What about things like homemade ketchup?
I think the deal breaker for me would be milk and buttermilk as i hate these at room temp...i wonder if there is a way around this...
thanks for making me think
This was one of my goals 20 years ago, in the city to not use a refrigerator, damn noise keeps me up.
Then my wife's folks bought us a suite of electrical appliances as a housewarming gift. COuld not believe it.
I think the solution to living without one is to have airtight packaging, tupperware, for all your perishables, vegetables, even an airtight container for milk.
You just re-use the containers each time you come back from shopping.
After reading your article , I just unplugged my refrigerator.
No noise, no electric bills, FREEDOM!
Careful with the "airtight everything" idea. This helps for some things, and particularly if sealed while boiling, but a lot of vegetables and so on keep better if they can breathe a bit, and thereby not be over-moist and mold prone.
For instance, fresh greens just keep like fresh flowers in a vase (or mug, or whatever). Carrots I leave in the bag (yes, I often do get bagged carrots, shame on me!) but open both ends of the bag (which requires poking holes in the bottom.
I grew up in a small town in southern India...with no refrigerator. The milk man delivered milk twice a day, the vegetable vendors knocked on the doors early morning. Every morning, my grandma would instruct just how much and what to cook and it was all somehow used by the end of the day. Once in a blue moon, father would take us to the ice cream parlor for a nice treat.
As kids, yes sometimes in summer we yearned for a chilled drink that some of our friends enjoyed in their homes, but father was so sure that we didn't need that appliance to live comfortably.
But, this busy city lifestyle in a foreign land has certainly drawn me far away from father's conviction...
I've been living without a fridge for 97 days now and loving it. I moved into a new house in October, looked at fridges, couldn't find any I liked, got busy and just ended up without one and not minding it at all. Now I'm thinking I'd like to go at least a year without one. I eat fresh food, don't waste as much food (i.e.getting a salad one day and realizing a week later that I didn't eat it and throwing it away), my electricity bill is very low, no constant refrigerator humming noise. The only thing I have really missed is butter and cold dill pickles. I drink water at room temperature which I believe is better for your body anyway. Plus I feel like I'm doing my part to help the environment (though I haven't seen any specific stats to that effect). All in all, I am activity celebrating my fridgelessness. Great blog ... keep up the good work and please post more for us less fridge-centric people.
THANK YOU for this post! We are planning on going off-grid, and didn't know what to do about this. I knew about some of those shelf lives, but not all. This is so helpful. And by the way, I would love more details like this in your posts. But it's your blog, not mine! ;-)
Greenpa - after reading your post over a year ago, I finally unplugged my fridge today. I've only known of one other couple that did not have a fridge and I was intrigued but never thought about it for my life. I finally decided to go for it this week after much delibration. I live alone and hardly have anything in there anyway. I'll have to make adjustments for the things I do keep in there (leftovers, bread, mayo). But clearly it can be done. Thanks for the inspiration and telling us how this is possible. I don't like being so dependent on the grid/big systems and this is another step away from that. I also don't own a car anymore and I can't imagine going back to that. I assume it will be similar with not using a fridge. Some inconveniences, huge benefits. Also between you and me, I don't understand why Thistle/Vanessa plugged back in... ;)
Robyn
Such a great post, thank you. I've been living without refrigerations for about 4 months now, and its been a truly interesting journey.
I've found that evaporative cooling works well. Whenever I have left-overs, even meat-based foods, I cover it with a wet cloth, the evaporations keeps it cool until the next evening. I always re-heat my food to a proper temperature, and I've haven't run into any probems so far. Also, I like to keep my wrapped-up cheese and salad greens submerged in water- this also seems to be an easy way to keep these foods fresh.
Wow, this post has really re-affirmed this lifestyle, and I'm so happy to know that there's a community out there experimenting with and enjoying the benefits of this way of being. Thanks so much!
I'm so glad I found this post. I haven't used a fridge for about 5 years now and I don't really think about it or do anything extra or weird or especially diy. I don't can, dry or lard food, or keep meat in strange situations or anything that is potentially dangerous. In fact, not using a refrigerator is insanely simple-- buy just enough food for dinner. Cook it. Eat it. Do you really need to store milk, butter and cheese? You shouldn't be eating that stuff anyway. I'm not even a vegan, I'm just realistic.
I don't know that not having a refrigerator really saves that much energy, but I can tell you that Americans stuff unbelievable amounts of soon to be wasted food in their fridges. We buy way more than we can eat and we fill the fridge just to fill it. I really believe that our obesity epidemic has it's roots in the 1950s consumerist culture-- and the popularization of refrigerators was at least one of those seeds.
So, thank you for writing this, it makes me much less self conscious. I thought i was the only one!
Hello GreenPa,
I have to say that we are mid move "off the grid", but we are in town, so we'll still have sewer. We encourage everyone to do the same. The worst part of our PG&E bill is the refrigerator. We've had the same one for 10 years, so I know it's a hog. Now that it's going out I was looking for the next latest greatest biggest one I can get, with 2 small boys that drink 2 gallons of milk in less than 5 days, I need more room. But now that I've read this, I think I might just let it go out & see what happens ;)
I'd love to not have a fridge at all, but I think we might go half way for now. I work from home so I don't go out as much as most. We also grow most of our own veggies & fruits so that reduces the trips to the store. I'm going to try the powdered milk to see if the boys will like it.
I think it's great that you live off the grid. We have reduced our use of resources by over 50% in the last 2 years (when we had the cash to invest in the house). I don't think we can go any further until we do some large projects.
Thanks for the helpful information & keep up the green ness!!
I'm single and live paycheck to paycheck so in all reality i am concerned about pizza and beer recently i started an antidepressant so beer is slowly falling out of the equation I have been without my fridge now for 2 weeks because im trying to same money on things i don't need as much of beverages..electricity etc.. the internet has been my TV, newspaper.... etc. My biggest question is if there is some direction some one can point towards; to foods or recipes i can cook single serving style, and that i do not have to have a fridge for the ingredients.
My biggest concern is that fact that i can afford my bills, but not much else (and can no longer eat ramen-_-)so im trying to save money and help the environment at the same time ....so any suggestions from anyone would be greatly appreciated.
Post a Comment