No-fridge living?

[msp]

Ds and I are about to move to our new (rented) place. I got a used fridge that my friend was still using, but when we moved to my place it didn't work anymore.

Today I started to wonder how possible living w/o a fridge could be.

I don't want to spend $400 to buy something that will increase my electricity bill if it's not *absolutely* necessary, so I just decided to go w/o fridge.

Anyone living w/o a fridge? I'd love to have all kinds of hints on how to make it work.

I live in Ecuador and I know here there're lots of families who can't afford having a fridge, but I currently don't know any : My mum lived w/o fridge for 30 years and she says her grandma used to go everyday to the supermarket and used to cook from scratch for every meal (In my family there's only one big cooking per day). I hope I can get further info than that, but it seems to be all she has to say about no-fridge living

I just found the following sites and saw that there's actually a small (very small?) movement encouraging unplugging your fridge. After reading this I'm decided to proceed not buying a fridge

http://www.outyourbackdoor.com/OYB8/fridge.html
http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogs...20refrigerator

Here some relevant details about our life
-I live in the city (capital city) and there're a bakery and a small grocery store 2 blocks from my house.
-I don't own a car
-I'm a single-WAHM, so I spend most of the day at home
-I "unschool" my almost 3yo. Not having a fridge might be another unschooling adventure???
-We're vegetarians (we do eat meat when we visit other houses, but no meat at home)
-We don't eat dairy products/eggs
-Quito is rather chilly in the mornings and evenings, but a bit warm during the day. Say, like a spring day.

Questions I have:
- What kind of supplies do I need to have for food storage?
- Need to know all sort of hints for food storage.

Any ideas, encouragement, and info are so very welcome!

[Sadystar]

No fridge no problem - even here in the south of Spain, even in summer.

We live away from roads so we only shop once a week, we store everything in the larder and have a pot-in-pot (google it) for dairy etc in high summer.

Though we are about to spend megabucks updating our solar system. so I might get hold of a small efficient chest freezer, which would be useful for preserving stuff - but I have no plans to get a fridge - totally pointless invention!

[celestialdreamer]

I could see it working in your circumstances. I only pick up my produce once a week from our CSA farm and it is 30 minutes away. We eat eggs and meat, but no dairy. Because of our food allergies and low budget I cook many things ahead to use during the week (which saves money and time). In my circumstances having no fridge would really not work, unless we were to give up cooking ahead, not buy from the local farm (and buy from a grocery store instead), etc. We would have to eat non-local foods and our grocery budget would probably go up. Just not gonna happen , but I admire you for going without if you really don't need one! I can think of lots of things that I can or could go without that people think are required, its interesting to challenge yourself to live outside the box.

[msp]

Thanks for the encouragement.

The pot-in-pot sounds great and easy to make

I found a picture here http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/Desi...-in-pot-cooler

Originally Posted by Sadystar

No fridge no problem - even here in the south of Spain, even in summer.

Where you live is much warmer than Quito, and that makes me feel that if you do it at the countryside it will be possible for me in the city.
Do you have a blog or any info on no-fridge living?

I'll pm you!

[Calidris]

can you readily get block ice where you are?
If so you can have small icebox and have an option on the rare occasions when you really want to keep something cold.

[msp]

Originally Posted by Calidris

can you readily get block ice where you are?
If so you can have small icebox and have an option on the rare occasions when you really want to keep something cold.

I'll check if the grocery stores nearby have ice available. Thanks for the idea.

I forgot to say that my mum lives 10 minutes by bus, so I could store in her fridge in case It's something I really need to keep.

[normajean]

I had no fridge for a week after we moved in, and about lost my mind. I would never want to live without one for a prolonged period of time, but that is just me.

[msp]

Originally Posted by normajean

I had no fridge for a week after we moved in, and about lost my mind. I would never want to live without one for a prolonged period of time, but that is just me.

I've also had no-fridge short periods and don't remember as being that bad. I think it depends on what you're used to store in there, the family size and how close you live from any sort of market.

What I'm starting to realize is that most families I know have larger fridges than they need. When I lived in Japan we were 3 adults and one baby in a house with a small fridge. We used to shop twice a week, and it worked fine most of the time.

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

How much can you modify the house you are living in? Growing up there were two families I spent time with who didn't have a conventional fridge. One had a root celler and the other had a chest sunk into the floor of their kitchen. I guess the ground kept everything cool.

Oh wait, there was another family who also had a "fridge" in the floor. They lived on a houseboat thogh so the fridge was underwater wich kept it cool.

[lindberg99]

I was reading an article about very small houses. One guy had one that was so small there was no room for a fridge. He lost a huge amount of weight (like 100 lbs) because he basically changed his whole eating style. Gave up meat, started cooking more, etc.

[msp]

Originally Posted by Rhiannon Feimorgan

How much can you modify the house you are living in? Growing up there were two families I spent time with who didn't have a conventional fridge. One had a root celler and the other had a chest sunk into the floor of their kitchen. I guess the ground kept everything cool.

Oh wait, there was another family who also had a "fridge" in the floor. They lived on a houseboat thogh so the fridge was underwater wich kept it cool.

I can't modify this house at all, because it has a landlord .

But now that you mention I remember that my appartment in Japan had one of these "fridges" under the floor. It was not as cool as a fridge but still fresh in warm and humid summer. We used to store few things there, but because we already had an "electric fridge".

[msp]

Originally Posted by lindberg99

I was reading an article about very small houses. One guy had one that was so small there was no room for a fridge. He lost a huge amount of weight (like 100 lbs) because he basically changed his whole eating style. Gave up meat, started cooking more, etc.

Yes, I read that some people living in very tiny appartments of big cities do not have fridges. For people living in the downtown, in those streets full of shops, it might be very easy to buy daily.

I'm starting to see that not having a fridge by choice is a great way to be more aware of what you eat, the amount, quality, etc. Now I really need to plan my meals, and that's good in our case.

[MomToKandE]

Have you read the No Impact Man blog? http://www.noimpactman.typepad.com/

They unplugged the fridge several months ago. You can read their experiences on the blog.

[amberskyfire]

One way you can keep your veggies fresh and cool is by making a cooling box. It's basically a square frame with shelves inside. The outside is made of panels of cloth. the whole thing sits in a tray of water. Basically, the idea is that the cloth box soaks up the water and it evaporates, cooling the inside while keeping it humid. You can just lift off the cloth box and access the few goods you have cooling inside such as lettuce, broccoli, etc.

[msp]

Originally Posted by amberskyfire

One way you can keep your veggies fresh and cool is by making a cooling box. It's basically a square frame with shelves inside. The outside is made of panels of cloth. the whole thing sits in a tray of water. Basically, the idea is that the cloth box soaks up the water and it evaporates, cooling the inside while keeping it humid. You can just lift off the cloth box and access the few goods you have cooling inside such as lettuce, broccoli, etc.

Thanks, it looks pretty simple. Do you have a pic of it? It seems that it's something that could be assembled when needed, right?

I'm trying to find a couple of pots for the "pot-in-pot", which is so interesting too.

[amberskyfire]

No, I can't seem to find a picture of one anywhere. Sorry