These are just some of the modern essentials we don't own and we manage to live a close approximation of a 21st Century life:
car (I can't even drive!)
dishwasher
microwave
tumble drier
freezer
food processor or anything similar
toaster
coffee grinder/percolator
bath (we only have room for a shower)
hairdrier or any kind of hair styling paraphenalia
laptop
mobile phone
i-Pod
make up
electric toothbrush
We do own:
a computer with printer
a radio/cassette/record/CD player
a tv, video player and DVD player (the tv and video are old)
a fridge, washing machine and cooker
an iron, but we don't use it very often.....
a camera
2 alarm clocks
too many books
What do you not own that people would expect you to own? What do you own but you could consider giving up to reduce your impact on the environment?
Hi Crafty,
ReplyDeleteIt is easier to be without a car in most urban settings. I don't think you ever can have too many books.
Rose
xo
Hi Rose = yes you're totally right there about cars.
ReplyDeleteBooks I'm not sure - do I have enough time to read all my books?
I commend you on your life led simply. I do have all the basics but there are some that I would consider giving up. Not sure how much they would make the world "greener" but here they are - cable TV, call waiting, I truly wished I worked closer to work so I could bike rather than taking the stinky diesel fuel bus. Thanks for reading smoochdog. All the books I have except for the 7 in my queue have been read and I love them - just couldn't give them up.
ReplyDeleteI love this post. I was just in target yesterday looking for a coffee grinder and I saw this egg cooker which was a kind of amazing contraption which will essentially boil a dozen eggs for you if you enclose them in this electronic encasement. There are so many things wrong with that item I do not know where to begin. I just keep thinking about how much energy and lives they wasted producing such a machine. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteWe have no: microwave, dish washer, washing machine/dryer, hair dryer, toaster and only have one small TV!
I congragulate you for living the simple life ..how right yu are there things that we do not need... Dishwasher I dont have but car I have as its possible to walk or to bike under 40 degreee of heat or more...(It sound as an excuse)
ReplyDeleteThats me with comment up there
ReplyDeleteNasra
www.iamnasra.blogspot.com
mks - yes I couldn't give up most of my books, just there are so many... I wish I could walk to work instead of catch the bus, but at least its public transport.
ReplyDeletePoet with a day job - that sounds like one weird gadget we don't need! You've given me some ideas about things to add to the list as well! Thanks!
Nasra - I lived in Malawi for two years and i know exactly how hard it can be to walk in extreme heat...
I got rid of my microwave last year in favour of keeping my oven (I moved to a smaller flat) and that seems to surprise people who visit. And then I seem to have an awful lot of plug attachments. I try to buy things with rechargeable batteries and sometimes it's a bit confusing as to which one is which. Maybe you could add mobile phone and camera to your one of your lists?
ReplyDeleteverilion - I'm struck too by how surprised people are by some of the things i don't have. I'm updating the lists as people comment, so thanks for your suggestions!
ReplyDeleteyay, ace that you can do without so many things! good for you, better that way - wish i hadn't got myself sucked into mobile phone life!
ReplyDeletei don't have: fridge, freezer, kettle, toaster, dishwasher, microwave, tumble drier, TV, video, DVD player, kitchen gadgets, bath, i-pod, games systems, hair products
i do have: a car(live in the countryside and work in various distant towns, insufficient public transport), a mobile phone, a camera, computer and printer, energy saving light-bulbs, an old stereo, a bit of make-up i got when i was about 17 and never used, must be out of date by now!
what could i consider giving up? hmmm, that one is difficult. i should probably throw away the out of date, unused makeup!
oh, i have a hairdrier too :(
ReplyDeletena - I'm impressed with some of the things you don't have! When I've had a gas cooker and oven I've sometimes not had a kettle but with an electric cooker the kettle seems essential. Couldn't do without a fridge. Don't have a freezer though.
ReplyDeleteour cooker is gas and kettles are extremely rare in italy, people think they're weird! heehee! though back in yorkshire at my mum's next week i shall be using hers for sure! forgot to mention the only heating we have in our house is the log stove in the kitchen "cucina economica" in italian - as well as heating the kitchen very well (we practically live there in the winter!) it also doubles up as a stove to cook on and has a container thing that heats water for our hot water bottles!!
ReplyDeleteI think that I could live without a TV, DVD player, VCR and music playing equipment as long as I had a computer I could use to watch DVDs and listen to music. I like to have a tumble drier and a microwave, but I could live without them. Everyone would think that it's weird to live without a imcrowave and TV set.
ReplyDeleteI hardly ever drink coffee, so the sort of coffee maker that goes on the stove seems more practical if only to save space. And I'd rather have one of those really cool food processors that _also_ heat instead of the three or four smaller items it is supposed to subtitute.
No bath would just mean one less thing to clean in the bathroom! Yeah!
I think of myself as loving make up, but for ages now I just wear lipstick, and that, occasionally.
Nia - I could live without a tv but suspect my partner couldn't! I'd be happy with DVDs on the computer.
ReplyDeletena - yes of course in a lot of European countries kettles are much rarer. Your stove sounds good. We have gas central heating.
wow, your list is quiet impressive! i don't know if i can't live without my mobile phone. hehe.
ReplyDeleteon the other hand, i've already given up tv and have been doing so for more than a year now. i don't have a dishwasher, tumble drier, coffee grinder, toaster, food processor. and i always try to unplug everything before i leave the house. i did a happy dance when i got my PG&E bill this month, saved some money.
i need my car for work so i can't give it up. but would love to if i could! parking in san francisco is horrible. i try to walk/take public transportation as much as i can though.
i think these i CAN'T give up: my laptop, digital camera, CD player/radio/alarm clock. and all my books of course. what will i do without those books? :P
ooops, typo. make that "i don't know if i can live without my mobile phone.
ReplyDeleteI love this - we also own TOO MANY BOOKS!! I joke that we won't have any room for anything else. We'll just make our furniture out of books to make room for...MORE BOOKS! :) PS: Thank you for your comment!
ReplyDeleteI do own most of those things. Mobile phone, because my family gave me one for a present. I use about $10 worth of phone calls every couple of years! A microwave, because it really does save power over cooking in the oven. It's 27 years old, so it has really lasted well. And I own a dishwasher because it came with the house, but it broke some years ago and never got fixed :) I don't think it would do much good to the environment to get rid of those things, though not buying them in the first place would certainly make a difference.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment I'm having to give up bookbuying because our budget is really tight. But there is always the library.
Odessa - your list is pretty impressive too! Well done on being without a tv!
ReplyDeleteCatherine = the reason I prefer an oven to a microwave is that mocrowaves do weird things to the structure of food.
Dew - but books are good, right?