The shifting views of household luxuries vs. household necessities.
Yesterday on NPR, there was a short segment (less than five minutes) about what household items are now considered to be luxuries vs. necessities (to start, think televisions, landlines and mobile phones). They also talk about the so-called convenience appliances like microwaves and dishwashers. Views and perspectives are changing.
What’s the reason for the shift? Does it have more to do with advances in technologies or the economy? Perhaps it is generational or due to the ‘œgreening’ of society’¦ after all that clothes dryer sucks up a lot of energy. I know, I have a baby and we’re doing laundry all the time now. So hint: dryer = necessity in our house. Take a quick listen and come back to tell us what you think.
Photo credit: stock.xchng.
I like what he said about “creative thrift” near the end of the piece. But I would say that there’s a coalescence of “creative thrift” and environmental awareness. A lot of people started questioning the necessity of electronic appliances well before the current recession.
For me, a dishwasher is a total luxury. Most of the apartments I have lived in have not had one. I don’t like washing dishes by hand, but it’s much better for the planet. So even though we have a dishwasher now, I would much rather wash things by hand and recycle the dish water in my garden than let all that water run down the drain.
I think dryers are a luxury. We are putting in a clothes line because we get plenty of sunshine in Tucson. It’s free. Why run up the electric bill if we don’t have to?
In Arizona, AC is an absolute necessity. However, the AC setting is totally up for debate. I like it set at 80, but Shannon would prefer 72. We’ve compromised at 76. (I like to sneak the dial up to 78 when he’s not looking . . . shh!)
For me, most of these decisions have way more to do with environmental consciousness than the economy. And if there is one bright side to the recession, I would say that it’s forcing people to adopt more environmentally friendly habits out of sheer economic necessity. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the habits stick.
I agree that it is more about environmental consciousness and simple living trends than the economy. I was surprised to read this in Serena’s comment:
“I don’t like washing dishes by hand, but it’s much better for the planet.”
I had actually heard just the opposite. I can certainly see where it is better ecologically speaking if you recycle the water into the garden. I have to figure out a good way to do that. Even WITH a dishwasher, it seems like we wash a lot by hand since we cook 99% of our meals here.
In Florida AC is a must too though we are holding off as long as we can. It also makes a solar powered eco-home more challenging. We’ve seen some prefabs that we like a lot but they’re not yet designed with a hybrid system (grid + solar) to power AC units. We’re using a dryer less and less and thinking of dumping cable and the land line.
Carol, it’s interesting that you mention hand washing v. dishwashers in terms of the environment. I just watched a news story about people in Washington who are smuggling in dishwasher detergent from out of state to circumvent a ban on dishwasher soap that contains phosphates and dioxins.
You can retrofit your plumbing so that your gray water automatically goes out to the yard and you don’t have to haul it out in buckets. This would mean all of your soaps need to be phosphate free, but the piping can run your washing machine, dishwasher, and shower/sink water out to the yard for you. I’m not sure how much this costs, but some cities will provide a tax incentive to do it. In fact, the Tucson city council just passed 2 laws making gray water and rainwater harvesting mandatory for all new housing developments, and 50% of existing and new commercial landscaping must be irrigated with harvested rainwater.
I lived in the SouthEastern US and I would say AC is a necessity. Yes, I know people in the 1800s and early 1900s lived in the South without it, but I could not do it. I might be a wimp, but there are also the elderly, the very young, the sick/Hospitals (cold air helps prevent the spread and growth of viruses) to think of, so I would say it’s a necessity.
If you are worried about using more water when you hand wash dishes (versus the dishwasher) simply use a rubbermaid type dishpan–one for soapy water, one to rinse– so you are not running the faucet the entire time.
Interesting piece. Most of the items the story lists can probably be considered luxuries as you can survive without them, but who wants to? Not I. But I think there’s another point on the luxury/necessity comparison that the story did not touch on, and that is useful life. Necessities that are replaced too frequently become luxuries, e.g. cell phones. A cell phone is a necessity for a lot, but replacing it yearly with the latest IPhone or BlackBerry is a luxury. Point is, I I think where our culture has erred is we took items that many consider to be reasonable necessities and made them luxuries with the wasteful behavior of replacing them way too frequently.
Yes, excellent point that this seems to have to do with environmental consciousness than the economy.
And I like Rob’s point about how necessities that are replaced too frequently become luxuries! Well said.