Chapter 2- Manahil’s adventures in the appliance-less land (Strategies)
Read chapter 1 of my adventures here: https://medium.com/p/950083539808
I have noticed that it is all about trade-offs. What are you willing to spend on and what is cheaper? For example, if I heat my food in the microwave, I can heat it directly in the plate I am going to eat it in. If I heat my food on the stove, then I have to put it in another pot. Often, food sticks to the pot when you reheat it on the stove, which means a lot of water is consumed in cleaning the pot. So I can’t seem to decide which one is better? Am I willing to spend on the electricity bill when the microwave is running? Or am I willing to spend on the gas bill of the stove and the water bill to clean pots after re-heating?
Another example of this could be lights vs the AC. If I reduce the usage of bulbs in my room, then I have to open the curtains for sunlight to come in. But, with sunlight comes a lot of heat because it is still summer in Karachi, which means the room will get warm really quickly and I will have to run the AC more. But in this case, since I am saving a lot more money and power by running the AC less, I made the trade-off of keeping my curtains closed mostly. I opened them early in the morning or at the golden hour in the evening when the sun is not so harsh.
Some other strategies I am using to avoid using certain appliances and reduce the usage of other appliances as mentioned in Chapter 1:
- Not using a hair dryer and hair straightener, and letting the hair air dry naturally. This means I have to learn to live with frizzy hair in the humid weather in Karachi.
- Wearing clothes that don’t need to be ironed, e.g. T-shirts. Cultural constraints come into play here since one can’t wear a T-shirt everywhere in the city. In certain settings the traditional shalwar kameez is more appropriate, however mostly they needs to be ironed otherwise they look really unpresentable. Someone told me a tip to wear un-ironed shalwar kameez right after I have taken a shower, the moisture from the body helps smoothen the creases on the clothes (apparently!). So I am going to try this strategy.
- Keeping appliances unplugged when not in use. I was already habitual of this (thanks to incessant scolding from parents on this in my childhood), but now I am being extra vigilant.
- Reading more books and watching less shows. I had a few books that I have been meaning to read but often I just end up binge watching stuff on Netflix or video calling my friends using my phone/tablet instead. Since I was making a conscious effort to not use my laptop, phone and tablet a lot, I actually got a lot more reading done, which is perfect!
- Arrange clothes really properly on the drying wire after washing. If they are spread out neatly, they don’t wrinkle as much and hence don’t need to be ironed.
