Готовый перевод Мы строим деревню / we are building ecovillage: комфорт и энергетический баланс

Comfort and energy balance

From what does comfortable life consist we can hardly understand nowadays. The comfort becomes too routine and usual thing. All its material constituents are thought-out long time ago by someone. Now, mostly, we are anxious about how to pay a work of this someone, who has invented everything for us (I’ve already written about the responsibility). Plus, of course, we solve for ourselves a few problems concerning qualitative and quantitative stock of basic comfort components: warm, food, water.

Comfort in my understanding - first of all, is a word that describes the ways and means to save energy.

Comfort implies optimum temperature in the dwelling when you do not have to make any extra efforts (in the setting of the city it is done with the help of air conditioning equipment and heaters). It is when you have food and there is no need to go hunting, fishing, picking mushrooms etc. every single time for that (in the modern world there are refrigerators and supermarkets nearby). It is when there are special implements which help you complete different tasks (cooking food, laundry, repairs etc.) applying minimum physical efforts (it obviously includes domestic appliances).

It can be said that there is also a psychological and a soul comfort, which is more difficult to describe because these factors are very subjective and depend on the way “the human have both feet on the ground”, notably it minimally depends on the external conditions. There is a suspicion, that the “healthier” the person is and has much quantity of “self-maintenance”, the less he needs for the satisfaction, living at the time with wholesome and comfortable life.

What`s more, the comfort is the level of the pleasure, which the person gets in the course of life. It depends on the many factors for one people and they also use the great quantity of the energy; the other people are satisfied with a little (the level of the power inputs is minimal, even if there is the absence of different material devices for the alleviation of the labour process)

Nowadays as Aldous Huxley already forecasted in 1932 in his anti-utopia “Brave New World” is the period, when a comfort is one of the most cults of the humanity. And nevertheless, poorly understanding by now how it looks like we try to reach it with any unimaginable weans. And the ways of increasing of the “comfortability” become more and more sophisticated. While talking about settlement many people say: “No, it is without doubts not about me, I like the Comfort!”

I can say that I feel very comfortable. Well, let’s analyze the anatomy of the comfort, how I understand it.

The first step towards a comfortable life is surely the building of the banya. When it appeared our life started to become better right away. The question of the hygiene and heat was solved. Everything became better with the health (we often caught cold, supercooled living in the tent). Washing and hot water - yes. The children are clean and warm - yes! Wintering and living in the cold season - yes! The place for the cultural and social life - also yes! And women’s club where there was a sewing-machine in summer and other stuff for creative work - undoubtedly! The banya is undeniably a leader in its deposit to the piggy bank of the comfort life.

On the second place in order of importance I`ll name the gas chainsaw. It is the most often used instrument in a household. It allows to stock firewood both for bonfire and for stove fast and without big costs, and it is irreplaceable thing during the building. Of course we have got a two-handled saw, hack- and bow-saws, and often, when we need to make a little sawcut it is better to choose hand tools, saving clear air and silence, and also gaining the safety from possible traumas. (For more information on this theme read the chapter from the book "The Hand Sculpted House, A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage called "Hand Tool Reflections"). But if we speak about the stock of firewood for the winter, the gas chainsaw here is the victory and triumph of the human genius. It lightens man`s burden by many percent. It is undoubtedly the step to the comfort.

One more factor of a comfort life is a gas-stove. I foe example use gas rarely, I like to cock on fire, but for our women in the settlement the cooking on fire for the many mouth becomes quite hard work, it needs a lot of attention. We have cocked on fire of course (for example, when the gas is over or just for the economy), but it denoted that there was one man in the women teem, who supplied them with adequate firewood and fire. But this means the falling out of two hands from the process pf building. Often, the women coped with it by themselves, but it was difficult for them and the time of dinner or supper was postponed. Of course if there is a stock of good dry wood, which is prepared in advance, it requires no magic to organize a fire - everything is simpler and it can be easy to manage without gas. But we have never had such a stock. That`s why you can manage without gas only if this question is properly organized…For the present we use gas if we have it.

In the absence of good dry firewood reserves, the gas-stove is a lightening of woman’s life in the life alone with nature and by implication of man’s life too.

The next thing is electricity. We refused to install wire electricity (read the separate chapter about alternative energy) and get the electricity by two ways: from the sun (mainly), from the wind (in a less degree), and if we require a lot of energy we start the little petrol generators. Electricity provides lightning, recharging of various instruments and gadgets (from a screwdriver to laptops and phones), films, sewing-machine…Many different bonuses. Electricity gave us an opportunity to install the telephone. At once it allowed to solve many problems remotely, without running to the next hill where is the cell radius, without often departures to the area center and surrounding villages. For the working people it is also a big help plus, of course, it is the composure of the relatives.

It is rather well to have the electrical comfort (within reasonable limits).

Before the most important thing and continuing the electrical theme, the washer should be mentioned. In the previous year I asked people, what did they need for the comfortable life? (It was in summer). Men said that “they had had everything”, and women declared with one voice that “much force went to the washing” and they lacked a washer. Mainly it is connected with children, they provide a big quantity of dirty clothes: babies do a poo and those who are already grown just get dirty. If you have no children it will be easier to do without a laundry…

Well, we found the washer. Firstly it was in the form of the washboard of 1976 year of manufacture and then after the half a year it was in the form of semi-automatic washer «Euri К500» (it is the up-to-date version of old famous washer “Eureka”, which was manufactured at the "Moscow Projector Plant"). Now this washer is produced by the firm “Aviamatika” at Moscow Aviation Institute, God grant them good health! This washer nowadays is the single (probably even in the world!) washer which has not become fully automated and at the same time has’t turned to the plastic pot with engine of little use, like the other semi-automatic apparatus. This washer is sold only in “Aviamatika” but you can come to an agreement with them about delivery to the regions, as we managed to do it and sent it into Novosibirsk.

We are able to write the individual book about the delivery of this washer to the village. It cost us a lot of mental and physical efforts. The very single-handed dragging on snow of uncomfortable 80 kg box without handles firstly across the brook, then up the hill was like a war drama, thankfully without victims. I’d tried everything: sledge, ski, polyplast, ropes, spade… But what is the most important that the washer honorably endured all transport malicious insults (see what metal case and firm spare parts can do) and our banya felt with pleasant sounds of working washer. It was one more important step toward the comfort. For the washing we use now the soap powder “Ecover”, which allegedly is fully biodegradable and doesn’t contaminate the nature. For the hand washing we use laundry soap. The only discomfort with the washer is the bigger (in comparison with hand washing) flow quantity plus petrol consumption and rattle of the generator. That’s why we rarely use the washer, only for big clothes or when our daughter purveys us for dirty diapers too actively.

The last and the most important thing is certainly the house. To live in the house and in the swing space or all the more in tents differs from each other like night and day. I will write about the comfortable house a little bit later in the individual book and when it will be built up to the end. This concept comprises a lot of things, so I will not diving into it now. I’ll write simply - “the House”.

All these components are directed to the main aim: energy efficacy. They give the opportunity not only to survive, spending all the resources on the maintenance of basic needs, but also allow to devote some time of your life to the other factor, nonmaterial one. The ability of self-fulfillment. It gives also the peace of mind. For me it is first of all the manufacture of something. The human is the creator who needs to produce something. It is something creative (we have potters, ceramists, fans of sewing, plaiting, embroidering, knitting and weaving). The self-fulfillment for me is that I can write. I’m also fond of painting and making photo and video. It is the important part of life in the comfort, which can be simply realized if you have more or less organized life, the material components of which I have already enumerated.

Thus the comfort is quite clear thing to me.

Maybe somebody can say that it is not comfortable at all. What’s about a car and asphalt and so on? But again I want to turn to the energy and its rational consumption: for me a car is an energetic burden, because the expenses for its usage are higher than the advantages. Of course I often use cars, buses and tractors but they are not mine and for me it is more effective to settle it with my friend, taxi-driver, to buy petrol or a bus or train ticket, than to buy my own car and then constantly invest into it my money and\or energy for the repair, spares, consumable materials, petrol. And it is also rational with a point of view of the whole planet. It is silly to buy two-three cars for the family and then criticize traffic congestion and gassing air. With our behavior we ourseleves make contribution to the increasing of the vehicle quantity in the world.

Any material component of the “comfort” can be analyzed in such a way. What we spend and what we become. And what is the balance. In this context a banya is energy-efficient (100 litres of water for 4 persons at the least + warming, communication, drinking of tea), and to lie in the bath is not energy-efficient (more than 100 litres of water for the single person and for a one procedure, plus you need extra water for rinsing and washing).
Hot water heating, even from firewood for us is less energy-efficient than a good stove, at the least because the first means that somebody needs constantly being at home, in winter it can’t stay without regular heating. And if you have a desire to go on a visit, to travel?

The big house is less efficacious than the little one. Again because of the resources spent for the building and then lifelong over-expenditures for its heating (at the same time you need understand that the house must be sufficient for the free creation and guests receiving, if it is important for you). And so on.

One more important moment is that many components of a comfort are not “ours”, but external, imposed by society, advertising. Many things are just status makers, but have not functionality…It is also interesting to realize it.

Переведено на Нотабеноиде
http://notabenoid.org/book/45942/183475

Переводчики: Yanne, ivanovishe, Falconov81, klimovalana