11.25.09
The Green Life of Grandpa and Grandma Examples We Can Use (Part 2 of 3)
Clean Energy Sources
(Part 2 of 3)
My grandparent’s main source of energy was the fire wood that was grown and cut off the land they lived on. One fireplace warmed the whole house, or at least as far as the heat would go. The kids in the back bedroom learned to unwrap themselves from a stack of quilts (made by Grandma) and get up quickly, dress and rush to the fireplace to stay warm. The fireplace was in my grandparent’s bedroom which doubled as a living room. So everyone congregated there for physical and emotional warmth. Much fellowship with family and friends went on in that dual purpose room around that fireplace.
My Grandma cooked on a wood stove and canned many jars of vegetables, fruits, jams, jellies, peppers, soups and other foods every summer for use during the winter. Some of the best smelling and tasting foods came from that kitchen. Yet the only electricity she used in the kitchen was from the light string that was sometimes pulled to turn on the electric light bulb hanging from the ceiling. She cooked three good meals every day on that wood stove. The warmth of the stove added cozy heat to the house in the winter, but smothering heat in the summer when all the canning was going on. There was no central air. She did all this without a blender, electric can opener, electric coffee pot, electric chopper, mixer or any of the other electrical gadgets we now find in our kitchens. Dishes were washed by hand with hot water heated on the stove as the stove was cooling down from the cooking of the meal. Dishwashers were unheard of. The electrical usage consisted of five light bulbs that hung from the ceiling in each room with a string to pull to turn them on and off. The house was not wired with electrical plug outlets in the walls because there was no need for them, no TV’s, stereos, computers, etc.
The water was drawn one bucket at a time by hand from the well that was located a few feet from the kitchen door. An inside bucket of water set on a cabinet and held the drinking water. This bucket kept a dipper hanging on the side for everyone to use to drink the fresh, good tasting well water. They lived without indoor plumbing of any kind.
They bathed themselves the same way with the hand drawn water from the well. The water was warmed on the stove and poured into a large metal wash tub which was placed in one of the back bedrooms for privacy when in use. The bath water was used by more than one person and then reused again in whatever way Grandma needed it, vegetable and flower watering or other uses about the household. Laundry was washed outside in a large wash tub and hung on the clothesline to dry. If the work clothes were extremely dirty, they were washed in a big black cast iron pot that was heated over a wood fire. The soap added to the boiling water and stirring with an old broom handle did the job well most of the time.
I know by now you are wondering about the bathroom facilities. Well, the old “Out House” was behind the house and a good little distance down a sloping path and far enough away so as not to interfere with the well water. And yes, the previous year’s Sears catalog was a commodity in that out house, along with other catalogs that were reused.
So energy sources included fire wood, water from the well and five light bulbs they used very little because they pretty much went to bed not long after the sun set. Do add the muscle and pure human strength and energy as it took that to do what today’s modern appliances and conveniences offer us.
This all adds up to a very small carbon footprint compared to today’s usage. And they did not even know they were green living heroes!
