defza :: def – ZA

Light, water, cooking, heating/cooling, and communication.
OK, rolling blackouts are no fun. Which of these big 5 can you do without electricity?

Not having power / electricity is just not nice. And it’s going to be happening often here since the one power station is down for a while.

So, it got me thinking… what can you do without electricity?
Finding things to do or alternative stuff to do can be quite difficult…

So, I want to compile a list of things to do when there is no electricity…

• Defrost your fridge – what better time to clean out the ice build up and clean out your fridge than when it is off anyway.
• Listen to radio – battery powered radio of course. At least it’s a little more imaginitive than watching mind numbing TV.
• Talk – to people. In person. Get to know your family. Phone up someone (normal telephones usually still work, as well as mobile cellphones)
• Read a book – get round to that book you have always wanted to read. The good old way.
• Board games – the thing people did for fun before electronics.
• Walk – you know you need it anyway. Do something physical!

Things you CAN’T do without electricty

• Use Milk – sorry, but I don’t think that the pastuerized, homogenized, super-duper-chemically-processilized milk from the shop will last very long without refrigeration techniques.

This means your diet will probably change. No cereal in the mornings without milk; dark tea/coffee anyone?

• Get up at night – want to go to the toilet quickly? Find those matches first.

I’ll definitally convert this to a proper page that doesn’t disappear in the blog archives…

Have you got any suggestions? Comment below!

I feel sorry for the people who have toilets that flush electronically 😉

Links

• Forum titled: “Things you can do without electricity…”
• 43things.com – “Live without electricity”
• dailycampus.com

  It wasn’t very long at all before folks started clamoring that we need electricity to SURVIVE. No we don’t. Come on, now, people. Get over it. We need water. We need food. We need heat. We need shelter. We need clothing. We can do just fine without electricity. It’s a convenience that we can take or leave as we see fit. Humanity has survived hundreds of thousands of years without it, and in parts of the world some people still do. Let’s keep things in perspective.

• about.com
  

  Things most of us can do without include electric blankets, electric (plug-in) clocks, electric knives, electric can openers, electric toothbrushes, electric heating pads, electric bottle warmers and those little electric pots that heat one or two cups of water. These ‘little’ things don’t take much electricity by themselves, but compounded over twenty four hours by thousands upon thousands of households, it creates an enormous demand to sustain our ‘comfort level’.

• powerscorecard.org – Twenty Things You Can Do to Conserve Energy
• backwoodshome.com
  

  How do you cook a meal if your gas stove has an electric ignition? How do your children find their way to the bathroom at night if the light switches don’t work? How do you keep warm if your wood heat is moved through ducts by an electric fan? What do you do with a freezer full of expensive meat? How do you find out what is happening in your area with the TV and radio silent? What will you drink if your water comes from a system dependent on electrical pumps?