Save money and the planet by not cooking?

[purplefdu]

Just because its cold doesn't mean we live in darkness all winter I have used a solar oven a couple times when I was younger, usually while working on requirements for girl scouting badges. The ones we made and used were pretty shoddy, but I loved the idea. I had a friend who made and used one, but I'm ashamed to say I was much more interested in his new puppy than the oven.

[lucille]

Originally Posted by NaturallyCheap

Most people can't even get fresh fruit and veggies. They live cold climate, what do you expect a solar cooker will do for them? lol

I was referring to summer.
We already adjust our level of cooking down to a minimum in the summer because it makes the house hot. Lucky us, we get both extremes. 30 below zero in the winter and into the hundreds in the summer most years.

[hermione]

Originally Posted by NaturallyCheap

Just recently came into light that smoking is bad for you. Every smoker knows smoking is bad for them, so how many actually care to the extend to do something about their health?

So by your book, all people who don't choose to pick up and move to the tropics are like smokers and irresponsible people who don't care about their health? I have lived in the tropics; I lived in Hawaii for 16 years and have never regretted leaving it. The reasons:

- Lack of space. There are already lots of people living there and housing costs are several times more than the average on the US Mainland or another larger continent where there is less competition for space. The lowest price you could expect to pay for a house when we were there was at least the upper $400,000 to $500,000.

- Cost of living is much higher in the tropics because everything has to be shipped in. This includes most fruits and vegetables. Not only are they more expensive to buy, but they are less fresh when you buy them due to having already spent weeks on a ship before getting to the supermarket. We used to shop at Costco where fresh produce was less expensive because they came in larger quantities, but they always started going bad within a few days.

- Lack of employment opportunities. This is another of the major reasons we left, as most college graduates in pursuit of a prosperous career and future.

- Health reasons. The humidity in Hawaii was giving us constant allergies, which is worse the closer you are to the ocean, almost unavoidable when living there. Our doctor told us that the only way to get away from the allergies was to move a less humid area on the mainland.

- With the heat and humidity, there are also a lot of bugs - (giant) cockroaches, fleas & ticks. Where we live now, we have no cockroaches, and even though we have 2 dogs, we have never seen a flea or tick. Of course this also depends on where on the mainland you live.

- A little sun might be nice, but the UV index in the tropics can be a danger, especially to people with fair skin who are even more at risk of skin cancer. Sure, you can cover up, but when it's so hot and you're living in it, it can be difficult to cover up and wear sunscreen all the time, especially if sunscreen irritates your skin (which it does to me).

Of course there are a few advantages to living in the tropics. The winters aren't so bad, the scenery is nice, the air is clean, crime rate is relatively low. But it's not suitable, affordable or practical for everyone to move there. And the air won't stay clean, nor will the crime rates stay low if everyone did move there.

[NaturallyCheap]

Not all smokers will give up smoking even they know it bad for them. Hence not everyone will move to tropics!

I can not appreciate you reason for moving away, since however I am still living at home!