What Is Simple?

[liralen]

We're involved in a voluntary simplicity class... but it really made me think about "What is simple?"

I mean... it's pretty simple to just toss my wet from the washing machine laundry into the clothes dryer with the sensor to tell when things are dry enough and let it heat and toss my clothing until they're dry.

A lot simpler than having to put it all into a hamper, go outside, hang it all up while it drips all over me by using clothes pins on the line, spacing them all out so that they don't overlap too much, and then wait for an hour or two until the 100° heat has cooked it dry and stiff. Then I still have to test it to see if it's dry enough, and then take it all down again and put back up the things that were wet but I hadn't noticed when I was taking it down... and then I still have to sort and fold.

Not really simple at all. Just like using cotton diapers when Jet was a baby wasn't really as *simple* for us as life might have been if we'd just used disposables. Just like using washable feminine protection is definitely a lot more work and mess for me than disposables... just like sorting out all our recyclables and compost from the garbage is a pretty tricky job, sometimes.

But I guess if I look at it on a world view... where that dryer was run on electricity that came from the Longmont plant (which provides some of the cheapest kilowatt hours in the country due to...) that burns coal to heat millions of gallons of water to make steam to drive the turbines that provides that electricity. And then I peer at the amount of hot house gases and other things that come out of that plant as well, and it's starting to look a lot simpler for the world when I just hang my laundry up to dry by the power of the sun that seems to be expending a whole lot of energy now, for free. A little work for me, a bit of energy saved for the world and a bit less pollution...

I'm happily inspired by the clothesline here. :-) I think I'll make life just a little more complex for me, and keep things a little simpler for the world.

Comments

It all depends on what you're optimizing for..

[xthread.livejournal.com]

For example, current environmental analyses are strongly in agreement - disposable diapers are a lot easier on the environment than washables, because use of freshwater in washing the washables swamps the energy and disposal cost of the disposables.

Simple is not necessarily always what you expect it to be.

- VanderVecken, from a previous life

Re: It all depends on what you're optimizing for..

[liralen.livejournal.com]

And it depends on what costs one is counting...

Sure the plastics in the disposibles are *cheap*, monetarily, but it's a one-way cycle, whereas while the freshwater *costs* more moneywise, it's less of a one-way thing. However, the energy thing *is* a one-way and is also a use of non-renewable, on the most part, unless the diaper service is using wind or solar power, which is unlikely anywhere other than in Boulder... *laughter*

Still, yes, how it washes depends entirely on what one counts as "costs" and what one values more.

Re: It all depends on what you're optimizing for..

[liralen.livejournal.com]

I really should have said, yes, of course. :-)

There are a lot of good reasons why a diaper service costs a consumer far more than buying a disposable diaper and paying for trash service.

I think that the voluntary simplicity stuff is trying to look more at the long-term rather than just out of pocket cost for goods.

Much as a McDonald's burger is obviously cheaper than most other foods, just as processed cereals and chips and soda pop cost much less than fresh produce or grass-fed beef do. So are disposable diapers cheaper than reusables...

Re: It all depends on what you're optimizing for..

[xthread.livejournal.com]

Allow me to clarify - the analysis being done was specifically about fully-loaded environmental costs. And what it really came down to is that fresh water is presently a less renewable resource than landfill space. In the future, the math might come down differently, but for the moment a disposable diaper is actually less environmentally harmful than a cloth one.

Which was interesting specifically because it runs dramatically counter to what one expects...

Re: It all depends on what you're optimizing for..

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Ah! That *is* interesting. I'd love to see it.

Thanks!