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Living without a Fridge in the City
February 20th, 2009
The urban environment is especially suited to living with either no refrigerator or a scale-downed cooling system. With population density comes easy access to fresh foods at most times of the day, and it can become a real pleasure to shop for fresh food daily.
I undertook my fridge-less experiment two years ago, and I have never regretted it! also, i’m still alive!! and I have been learning some extremely interesting things about food and storage techniques.
Refrigeration certainly will prolong the life of foods, it is however, entirely dependent on a stable electricity supply and this weakness quickly becomes clear in a power failure.
And, of course, the other reason for rethinking the refrigerator is the use of Freon, a nasty ozone-depleting gas. Although honestly, my main reason for rejecting the refrigerator was the horrible background noise it produces, not to mention the distint click-click-gurgle my particular beast had developed.
Food Storage Tips:
Below are some tips to storing food for longer than a day. My ease of adapting to life without a fridge is helped by the fact that I don’t drink milk, so I can’t comment on an alternative way to store milk.
Fruits and vegetables: buy fresh daily, store in a cool dry place
Greens: greens, and chives can be stored like cut flowers, in a container with a bit of water at the bottom.
Eggs: eggs last a very long time if rotated every few days
Yogurt and Cheeses: Last just fine for several days, In fact this is how alternatives to dairy products came into being, to extend the shelf-life of fresh milk.
Sauces, and condiments: most commercial condiments are so full of preservatives and do not actually require refrigeration. Most can be stored for 6 months after opening. Any degradation that may occur can be seen or smelt. Sauces that are going to be boiled or cooked are fine to store in a pantry, as well. However it is very convenient to buy in small quantities and eat within a few days
Fresh Meat: buy daily. wrap in paper to keep cool until ready to eat, cook thoroughly.
Sausages, preserved meats: It is easy to find sausages and jerkys that do not require refrigeration. wrap in paper and store in the pantry. A local butcher shop may have air-dried sausages. (In Nanaimo, you can find them at Nesvog’s)
Homemade soups: Large soups can be left on top of the stove in the pot they were cooked in for 24 hours. Put the lid on to maintain sterile conditions and bring to boiling again when ready to eat the next day.
Alternatives to the conventional fridge:
Evaporation coolers: a basic design consists of a porous clay pot placed inside a larger clay pot. The space between is filled with sand and kept moist. The evaporation produces a cooling effect.
Thermoelectric cooling: this is what I use at home if I really need to cool something. The premise simplified is that an electric current is run through a series of plates. One side gets hot, and one side gets cold. the current can be reversed to produce either a cooling or a heating effect. Peltier coolers are easy to get and completely functional, they are compact, quiet and contain no mysterious gasses or chemicals.
Outside: It’s winter, you are heating your home, yet cooling a small portion again. hmmm…
If you are wanting to get back in touch with your food, consume more fresh foods. rethinking the way you store food is in order. It could mean switching to a smaller under the counter fridge or a very desirable (but more expensive) refridgerated drawer system (so nice). Search for peltier coolers and you will find a suprising choice of nifty little machines!
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Mudgirls tour Eco-sense house and O.U.R Ecovillage
February 15th, 2009
Vancouver Island has some inspiring sites for those interested in Alternative construction. I recently went on a tour with some Vancouver Island builders of two very interesting examples of sustainable architecture.
We visited the Eco-sense house located in the highlands just north of Victoria, BC, and I have to say it was the most fascinating cob home that I have seen and a great example of a fully functional and code approved cob dwelling. It was beautifully finished and contained endless examples of sustainable design.
The house was built completely of cob (sand, clay and straw), mixed by roto-tiller, and is an amazing example of an engineered loadbearing earthen structure. The walls rest on a concrete foundation, which in itself was innovative design. The house is powered by solar panels which draw power from the city grid during the winter months and give power back in the summertime! The property contained so many examples of great design that it was almost impossible to take them all in. ( It was the Disneyland of natural building!) The specs on the house were incredible. check it out at www.eco-sense.ca
The other stop on our tour was O.U.R. Ecovillage in Shawnigan Lake. We learned the fascinating history of the Ecovillage which is a sustainable learning centre and demonstration site. The property was originally a farm with a single house but was able to be rezoned through a long and transformative process which resulted in the inspiring place it is now. The Ecovillage contains great examples of permaculture design, and beautiful architecture incorporating recycled building materials and inspires and teached thousands of people annually. Visit them at www.ourecovillage.org
The folks at both Eco-sense and O.U.R. Ecovillage have worked tirelessly with building professionals and city officials to begin to revolutionalize the building code in BC. It was wonderful to see how this type of building can change hearts and minds!
