Alternative living.

[Lazy Gardener]

No. We have forced air oil heat, and are primarily using that. We often fire up the wood stove in the living room. Dad gets up in the morning, and spends the day in his recliner in the livingroom. By late afternoon, the wood fire has died down, the furnace takes over, and the bedrooms remain warm at night. If we had planned our house better when we built it, we would have put the wood stove in the basement, and had a plenum over it to direct heat directly up to the living room, and fanned ductwork to draw the heat down to the bedrooms. They make combo oil/wood furnaces that work very well in that same manner.

 

[JanetMarie]

What about alternative living without money? This is what people used to do, when we had fur, and probably even after we lost our fur. People used to trade more, and then paper money (no longer backed by gold or silver) became worth something (fiat). Now it's mostly just numbers in a bank account. I saw one you tube video of someone who lives without money. He lives in or near the desert, but was dumpster diving, which is not for me.

 

[flowerbug]

What about alternative living without money? This is what people used to do, when we had fur, and probably even after we lost our fur. People used to trade more, and then paper money (no longer backed by gold or silver) became worth something (fiat). Now it's mostly just numbers in a bank account. I saw one you tube video of someone who lives without money. He lives in or near the desert, but was dumpster diving, which is not for me.

i'm currently able to get by on very little, but not zero. it lets me earn enough to pay for the heat and if we need something else that Mom can't afford i will spring for it or split the cost with her. like i paid for the new roof when we needed it done. depends upon what it is. but eventually things will get more complex when i need to buy a place of my own, but as long as i can go on like this i will because it keeps things very simple.

 

[JanetMarie]

I like simple. In today's world I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as living without any money at all. That is if you want to be able to use soap, toilet paper, and a tooth brush.

The Native Americans, and other indigenous cultures had it figured out. No property tax, since nobody owned the land. It simply belonged to the earth.

 

[Mini Horses]

They also had figured out not having soap, TP and toothbrushes as we know them today! There are alternatives. Our modern conveniences are nice but, replaceable if SHTF.

My grandparents had no electric, or a car! Anyway, clothes got made and washed, food grown and canned. Different time.

 

[Hinotori]

People in current day US couldn't handle the smell from even a hundred years ago. Cleanliness has come a long way in that time. I know what I smell like after a week of camping even with the washing without soap in the creek.

Sand or certain plants can help clean. Ammonia helps kill the lice in hair and on the body. Lice can carry diseases. So yes, Napoleon wouldn't have lost as many troops if they followed the ancient practice of letting urine go stale and washing with it.

The mandatory showering in school after PE was to teach kids to be cleaner in the hopes they would in turn teach it to their parents. It was successful.

 

[Hinotori]

Romans used urine as a mouthwash to make their teeth white.

Covering someone with oil and scraping it off was also a form of cleansing. That is still practiced in some places.

Birch or other non-toxic tree twigs were used to clean teeth. They wore the teeth down in a pattern that archeologists can recognize. They also don't work as well for a diet high in grains, starches, and sugars. The first toothpowders were ash and salt. Both are very abrasive to teeth.

The archeological record shows that humans were fairly healthy with good teeth when they were hunter gatherers or nomadic herdsmen. Graves of the first farmers from the same timeframes as the herdsmen show a marked difference. Poor health, bad teeth, shorter lifespans. It took until about the 20th century for us to regain the same cohort lifespan we had pre-farming. Infant mortality also went up with farming. People had more kids closer in ages and because they weren't as healthy even more died.

 

[Britesea]

Lots of interesting stories out there about cleanliness... Catherine of Aragon bragged that she had bathed only twice in her life: once at baptism and once when she wed Henry VIII.
... another story: an old backwoodsman came into town to see the doctor. He had not changed clothes for so long that his body hair had grown through and gotten entangled in his long underwear; they literally had to cut and shave his clothes off of him.

I imagine that our current day toothbrushes and toothpastes also wear down the teeth in distinctive patterns... they just aren't telling us about it-- until they come up with some New And Improved product.

 

[Hinotori]

Yes there is some wear on enamel from modern toothbrushes. Not really noticeable even over decades if you're using soft ones. Hard bristle is noticeable. Both dentists I've used in the last 2 decades have been adamant that only soft bristle should be used.

I'm not sure how electric toothbrushes like Oral B effect teeth.

 

[JanetMarie]

They also had figured out not having soap, TP and toothbrushes as we know them today! There are alternatives. Our modern conveniences are nice but, replaceable if SHTF.

My grandparents had no electric, or a car! Anyway, clothes got made and washed, food grown and canned. Different time.

Part of the reason for tooth care today is because of the processed food.