Life Without Technology?
Most of us are so used to the technology we use in our modern life that we don’t even think about it. A room is well lit at the flick of a switch, we can talk to anyone in the world immediately and see news as it happens around the globe, food is kept fresh in refridgerators or mass produced sealed packages, clothes are mass produced and available to buy in air conditioned shopping malls, and our waste products are either flushed down the drain or collected and carted away.Most of us are dependent on this technology—we can’t imagine life without it. And the stories we read of life before it was developed doesn’t make it sound pleasant! Chamber pots, the long drop, trying to read by candlelight, or having to grow and prepare all our own food, none of them seem that appealing.
And yet, does it need to be this way? What would life be like now, without electricity for example? Would we be instantly transported back to life a hundred years ago?
I don’t believe so. While most of our current lifestyle is dependent on electricity, there is also a lot of research put into alternative technologies.
Composting toilets are an efficient, odour free method of dealing with waste that requires no electricity. We’ve learnt a lot about preserving food through safe canning or drying methods. And you can find plenty of plans for making solar ovens, that cook your food using only the sun’s heat. Pinterest is full of excellent tutorials on how you can sew your own clothes without complex patterns or huge sewing knowledge. Given time to prepare, and the information we have available now, living without electricity can be a lot more enjoyable than we imagine.
The characters in my novel, Reckless Rescue, had to learn to live without electricity and other modern conveniences when they had to flee their planet when it was destroyed by a meteor impact. Luckily they were able to print out many resources from their databases before they lost power. Being rather resourceful, they’ve managed to make life on their barren planet as pleasant as it can be. Except for the anysogen pollution, which means that most of the population is unable to reproduce.
***
Thanks,
Rinelle, for this glimpse into the world you created for your novel.
This is right up my alley ~love stories of colonization and what life
would be like in post-apoc0lyptia! Best of luck to you.
