Alternatives
Several years ago I lived for about a year in a wooden cabin I built on a
mountain side in the Gallilee, far from the city, without running water or
electricity. There was a whole community living around that mountain,
mostly families with kids, and each one built himself a house of sorts. Of
course, like most places in the Middle East, there was no creek or river
nearby, other than draining rain water in the winter, and we had to either
wash in one of the deep pools in which this water collected, which
involved going down a rope six or seven meters underground, or haul many
containers of water from the nearby town of Safed (Zefat). We'd then fill
them from the main cistern that stood above the dwellings and provided
water to each family through gravity pressure. Needless to say, hauling
the water was not our most pleasurable exercise, and since in that hot
climate everyone had to drink at least several liters of water a day,
showers were somewhat of a luxury. I noticed several things about this:
- When you spend most of your time outdoors, like we did there, you
don't tend to smell bad even after working hard all day, probably
because the wind airs you out. Most of the people there could easily do
with one shower in a week or ten days in the winter, perhaps twice or
three times a week in the summer, when it's over 40 degrees C at noon.
You can also wear the same clothes for many days without offending those
around you with your smell, as long as you have several layers on.
- You can very effectively cut down on the amount of water used for each
shower when a person pours water on you, rather than using a faucet.
- When you don't wash every day the body develops an additional covering
layer over the skin, that changes daily and sort of refreshes the way we
smell.
- Under these conditions, living, as it were, close to nature, body
odors that we would normally find repulsive in the city actually smell
different, because of this outer layer. Our smell can be even perfumed
if we hang around a fire which is scented by incense or dried flowers,
or just regular eucaliptys bark and leaves.
- Every time during that period that I had to come to the city for
several days, I immediately had to go back to showering and changing my
clothes every day because I could tell I stank, as if the city was
causing my body to smell differently. Perhaps a city actually does
something to our body chemistry, and makes us produce a different, more
offensive smell. More likely it's the pollution and the automobile
exhausts and all the other smells of the city that cling to your clothes
and body, and the fact that in the city you hardly ever stand in the
wind for more that an hour at a time to get aired out.
- One more important thing I noticed, is that when I tell people from
the city about how we washed and changed clothes once a week, they all
think I'm odd, to say the least. I guess if you haven't experienced a
thing yourself, you just find it hard to believe.
Offered by Shaul.
I lived in a very primitive cottage in Spain for 2 months once - no
toilet or running water, so no showers. We did find, however, that a daily
strip wash from a basin of water made us feel quite refreshed and it
didn't use up much water.
Offered by Cass.
My family lived for eight years in our cabin near town with no running
water and an outhouse. You would be surprised how fast you snap into a
routine. A trapper friend of mine said that after 30 days with no showers
you just don't stink anymore, or at least you just don't care.
Offered by Clipper.