Shaun Groves
First I blogged about how Becky and I are defining simplicity these days. Then, I wrote about the changes we’ve slowly made toward simplicity over the last few years. Today, the stuff we’re trying out next in an effort to take less so we can give more.
Here’s that list:
- No garbage disposal: Compost everything.*
- No clothes dryer: Hang everything outside on good weather days and inside in front of south-facing windows on bad weather days.*
- No dish washer: Wash everything by hand.*
- No ice maker: Disconnect the icemaker and its energy-sucking heating element.*
- Use only condensed fluorescent bulbs. Switch when the current bulbs burn out.*
- Unplug anything not in use, including things that are “powered off” but remote-controlled.
- Use a rain barrel to collect water for the garden. (Can we bathe kids in that stuff too?)
- Use a push mower. (Guess whose idea this was?)
- Expand the garden.
- Turn the thermostat up three degrees in the Summer and down three in the Winter. (Thank God we don’t live in Texas anymore.)
*One author claims doing these things will reduce our energy bill to a mere $20/month. We’ll see.
And here are some things we decided we’re too wimpy to even attempt…right now:
- Eat a completely chemical-free locally-grown diet.
- Downsize our house again.
- Rename our children Feather, Mountain and Leaping Bear.
- Follow Phish around the country in a primary-colored school bus.
JasonG says:
Love these lists. We are grdually simplifying and healtifying (that’s not a real word) our family. We have started the whole wheat thing where we grind the wheat and now we’re making whole wheat stuff like breads, muffins, hamburger buns, pizza dough, etc. We have also started a garden and the organic thing (which I always thought was for weirdos). It’s good to see what others are doing. You said in Part 2 that there are things that you tried that didn’t work. I hope that list is on it’s way to us also.
Like Dave Ramsey says, “Normal in America is broke. I want to be weird!” He’s speaking financially but there are tons of things that most Americans do (including our family) that is considered normal until you actually evaluate it.
Wayward Now Home says:
“Rename our children Feather, Mountain and Leaping Bear.” That made me laugh!
An energy bill of $20 per month? That sounds delicious. Every post in your “simplicity” series makes me want to do my part as well. It’s unfortunate that I’m not living on my own and the rest of the people in my house (namely my parents) will not want to adjust to a different lifestyle.
PJ says:
The dishwasher thing is confusing to me. It seems a dishwasher is very efficient with water. Maybe the best is dishwasher but no heated drying?
My energy waster involves the length of my shower. I have said to myself I need to set a timer or something!
Emily says:
I’m really enjoying this series, Shaun. I must admit that today could be my favorite. You and your humor. Geez.
rachel says:
hahhah … love the kids names 😀
so my dad has always been a nut about turning off lights and appliances and things to save on the energy bill, and he decided to invest in a couple of switches around the house that are motion sensors. the sensor is in the switch and as soon as you wave your hand over it or walk by it it turns on, and it automatically turns off after 5 minutes. it doesn’t work in every room, because you might not walk by near enough or often enough to keep it on, but you can set it to be always on or always off as well.
he also installed a switch for the attic light that had a little bulb on the switch to indicate that it is on, since we had a tendency to leave that on for days and days and not realize that it was on.
one more thing my parents installed is a geo-thermal heating and cooling unit. it pulls up ground water, which is always 52*F, and the unit heats itself in winter from the water or cools itself in summer with the water. i’m not totally clear on how exactly it works, but it’s way more efficient, and to my understanding, it’s way more enviro-friendly.
dean says:
i’d be interested in finding out what the overall verdict is on the dishwasher thing. we houseparent at a children’s home, and it seems that there’s a huge amount of water wasting going on when they hand-wash pots and pans and other stuff that won’t fit in the dishwasher (feeding 8-10 people each meal, there’s NO way everything’s fitting in the dishwasher anyway). the dishwasher without heat-drying should be more economical assuming the motor isn’t an energy-hog… it’s certainly far more efficient than the heat element, but even without heat-drying the dishes, the heat element still comes into play because it also heats the wash water… and to a much hotter temperature than your regular household hot water to compensate for the lack of a little robot arm with a dish rag in there scrubbing everything nice and clean.
also, driving a school bus around the country doesn’t sound like an energy OR money saver, unless you’re down-sizing from your current house to the bus…
but this series has been really convicting for me, as i’ve been pondering the how-to’s of this very concept for quite some time. thanks!
Jordan Like the River says:
Thank you for the pointers!
I just have to point out that the condensed fluorescent bulbs are terrible for the environment. They may be a savings in the short run, but, you can’t throw them in your regular trash because they qualify as hazardous waste. No one has yet figured out a safe way to dispose of them. I’m not even a green-head at all, but I still refuse to buy them for that reason.
Texas in Africa says:
I’ve been trying the unplugging thing for awhile now, and it really helps with the electric bill – more than I ever would’ve believed. It’s a lot easier if you just hook everything up to a power strip that you can turn on/off with a click. Haven’t done it with every single thing, but I’m amazed how simple things like unplugging the can opener, the toaster, and the cell phone charger when they’re not in use cuts down on those expenses.
Krista says:
Thanks for the ideas! I’m still working on a few of them… (ie, I’m trained to take long showers because I used to have really long hair, but I don’t anymore), but I think I have to agree that your dishwasher is more efficient than handwashing. Unless you are super stingy with your water (like 2 sinks full and no more) then the dishwasher uses less water which is also more enviro friendly.
I wish we didn’t live in an apartment so I could have a garden and a laundry line, too!
(but I won’t tell you that we have hydro power out here in the NW so even with super hot summers and super cold winters our power bill isn’t bad. It just means we have to be more conscious of our energy use since it’s not affecting our pocketbook.)
Ryan says:
$20/mo for all that work??? Our family does half of that, basically just for ‘green’ reasons. But if you’re just trying to save more money, good ol’ fashioned capitalism looks a lot more promising. Just work a little harder, sell a couple extra CDs, and you’ll have a lot more to give. All the extra work for clothes and water probably equates to a wage of about $1/hr. Maybe we should figure out what our time is worth in hours per dollars, and factor that in to what is wise for the kingdom (ie, maybe we should be good stewards of money and time for the kingdom).
Also, I didn’t see anything about the many (better) options for saving money on gas. If we drove a cheap scooter (80+mpg) when possible (not even all the time) most of us would save a lot more than $20/mo on gas.
Shaun Groves says:
I just have to point out that the condensed fluorescent bulbs are terrible for the environment.
I don’t believe this to be true. It’s often said so we studied up on the claim. I’ll find the stuff we found and post it. Remind me if you don’t see it soon.
Shaun Groves says:
Ryan, I think you misread something. The total electric bill would be ONLY $20…supposedly. I’m not claiming I will MAKE $20.
And there was no mention of a scooter or biking or walking because, with three children (one of them only 3) and a wife it’s not likely we’ll be scooting everywhere together.
Shaun Groves says:
On the dishwasher question…It’s a toss up. Some folks say it’s energy and water saving to wash by hand and some don’t. Everyone agrees it saves energy not to use the heat dry setting on the dryer. So, we’ll make all the other energy and water related changes first, then go to hand washing and see if there’s a noticeable difference. Because, really, wouldn’t the difference depend at least partly on how exactly you wash by hand? Me thinks so. We’ll see.
It’s all experimentation and measurement. And my inner geek loves that. It’s like being a scientist without the dorky lab coat or the years of education.
Linda Sue says:
I’m introducing a slight dog leg to this topic – a friend shared an insight from Papua New Guinea about our “stuff”
go to http://ellieskees.blogspot.com/ and see how people with very few conveniences view us. I’m not jumping on y’alls simplifying bandwagon – we haven’t gone to a movie, had cable tv, bought a coffee at Starbucks, bought a fancy schmancy phone thingie in like forever and we have not had a new car in 10 years – not necessarily because as a social statement it is because times are tough financially and when they aren’t – too many things to catch up on. Also seems stupid (pardon me if that is too blunt) to blow money when the Lord specifically wants us to be good and faithful servants – servants don’t waste the Master’s stuff. We don’t have health insurance or benefits. We are investigating a wind turbine – again not a big social issue more because we cannot afford to stay comfortably cool or warm in appropriate seasons with current utility rates. Sure interesting to read what different people are doing – each does a little and it makes a big change. Bless y’all
mamasboy says:
$20/month on average is an impossible dream for most people, especially families with a stay at home parent who can’t turn off the heat when they go to work. A mere 3 degrees just doesn’t cut it in most regions of the US. I have frost on the inside of my windows every morning in winter, heat only 2 bedrooms with space heaters (using a wood stove for the rest of the house) and still have $100 plus electric bills in the winter, not including propane for the hot water. The electric bills drop to 30/month in the summer (not including propane). I’ll talk to some friends who have been doing everything above with an asterisk for years (in a couple different parts of the country) and see what their utility bills have been. Maybe I’ll be surprised.
MB
Kyle Kite says:
I’ve really enjoyed these posts.
I like seeing anybody serious enough about the Kingdom to actually change their lives for It.
Just a thought though.
These changes don’t seem to be very much in the vein of “simplifying”.
They seem very “economical”, but not all that simple.
Shaun Groves says:
How do you mean, Kyle?
We’ve defined simple for our family as “taking less to give more.” All of these things fit that definition. What’s yours? There’s no “right” answer is there? So share yours.
Texas in Africa says:
On the whole ice maker thing, I think there might be something to it. I was overseas all last summer but kept my place because it was less expensive than moving. With everything but the fridge unplugged and the a/c off, my monthly electric bills were still about half of their usual amount – $40. I did turn off the icemaker, but didn’t disconnet it.
On the lightbulb thing, it doesn’t really matter whether we think it’s more environmentally sound or not – by 2015, only energy-efficient bulbs can be legally sold in the U.S., and since compact fluorescents meet the standards, they’re likely to be our only choice. They are a bit sketchy to dispose of, and you have to be careful if they break, but overall, it’s a much more efficient long-term choice for saving energy. And you can easily recycle them when they die at places like Ikea.
I’ve tried the dishwashing thing, and definitely used more water by handwashing. It’s probably easier to save H2O if you have a two-sided sink.
PJ says:
I did a google search on compact fluorescent bulbs and came up with this very informative pdf which indicates that the amount of electricity saved using the energy efficient bulbs results in less mercury entering the environment even if the bulbs are not recycled. Of course we should still recycle them, but power plants are a big source of mercury from coal entering the environment. It was an eye-opener for me.
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_light/downloads/Fact_Sheet_Mercury.pdf
Patricia C says:
Hey Shaun,
A couple people at my church and I are trying the simple living lifestyle. We’re starting gardens, one guy has chickens and a worm filled compost heap. I was wondering if you had any books on this subject you’ve looked at or recommend. May God bless your endeavors to honor Him.
Rachel says:
This is great stuff…especially with the cost of living getting so much higher these days. I have a really simple budget, but I live with 3 other roommates in a fairly large condo. We were just talking about how to cut costs, especially since Oklahoma is ridiculously hot in the summer.
You’re really a borderline hippie in my mind now, Shaun. You should consider living in Boulder.
Kevin D. Hendricks says:
Good stuff, Shaun.
On the dishwasher comments I’ve read the same thing, that a dishwasher is a little better environmentally than handwashing. I think Wired magazine did a study on stuff like that. Disposable diapers vs. cloth diapers was a toss up due to the washing impact of cloth diapers, even a ceramic cup vs. disposable required something like 1,000 reuses of the ceramic cup to be less environmentally impacting. Kind of wild when you start to consider all the energy, waste, materials, etc. that goes into something.
And I highly recommend a reel lawn mower. When we bought our first house the owners left their reel mower so I just used it (too cheap to buy a new one), and I was amazed at how much I liked it. You don’t have to buy gas, it’s not noisy, there’s no pollution! And if you’re like me and don’t care so much about your yard, you won’t mind that it doesn’t do quite as good of a job as a powered mower (of course mine’s ancient and not sharpened, so that might be the problem).
Another simplicity method I use is shutting off the water in the shower while I’m sudsing up. It means I take shorter showers and probably use a quarter of the water. I thought it’d be harder than it is, especially in the winter, but I’ve gotten in the habit and it’s second nature now.
Carole Turner says:
WOW, I didn’t know the Ice Maker cost so much. I am a freak about turning lights off and I take the quickest showers possible.
P.D. Ross says:
Did the Phish thing. Oh what fun……..by the way, they are not touring together anymore.
Mud Puppy says:
I was thinking the same thing Kyle did just this weekend. I am totally on board with all of these things (even though I don’t do a lot of them myself… yet), but they do seem to make life more “complicated” than simple (at least the life we’re used to these days).
The things you’re cutting out were designed to make your life simpler and easier. So getting rid of them makes it a little harder in return.
I can see how you’re using the term though. It feels more metaphorical instead of physical.
Erin says:
We are trying to make some changes in our home as well. We just put in a rain barrel this week! God bless you in your journey of simplifing things. We have realized that it will take time but we love the changes we are making.
Kyle says:
Honestly, these posts are great. Really. I think they’re going to help me save money.
They have made me look at my expenses and reevaluate some areas of my spending.
Awesome deal.
http://www.vagabondrunn.wordpress.com
David says:
Follow Phish around the country in a primary-colored school bus.
This would be rather counterproductive, given that (a) Phish has broken up, and (b) the school-bus probably isn’t a hybrid.
Caleb says:
actually, if you look for chemical – free foods you will find nothing to eat.
love this otherwise -too bad i’m only a teenager.