Every Thursday is Simplicity day at Living Behind the Curve.

Recently, I read an article on a simplicity blog that extolled the virtues of living without a microwave. When this blogger looked at her microwave use, she saw that she was using it for heating water for tea, defrosting meat, and not much else. So, she pitched it.

She went on to explain the repercussions of going ‘waveless. Defrosting meat, she said, took a little more planning than she was used to, but she found the experience to be an excellent exercise in being more organized. In heating her tea water, however, there were big changes. Post-microwave, she uses her teakettle to boil water, which has given her a calming start to her day. She’s found extra time to devote to other things while the water boils, and the ritual helps her appreciate the little things in life a bit more than she used to. Incidentally, she also got to develop a much more intimate relationship with her collection of teapots.

I love my microwave, but if I used my microwave as little as she did, I’d lose it too — I can think of so many better uses for that space. My hat is off to her for a decisive move that challenges assumptions all over the place. Rock on!

Oh, hey, one more thing. Microwaved food gives you cancer.

Wait, what?

She goes on to cite some very questionable sources and a BBC article that was later retracted. There were two “studies” done, but they weren’t published, peer-reviewed, or even detailed enough to say what allegedly precancerous gunk they found floating in your body. If you’d like to read more, this is an excellent and exhaustive article detailing the more common claims about the safety of microwaves and the food they heat, along with safety guidelines for microwave cooking.

It’s nothing but Internet pseudo-science, folks: Internet legend based on a grain of truth.

OK, now the link. I didn’t share it at the top because I didn’t want my rant at the bottom to take away from the fact that, before the fear-mongering, this was a damn good concept. Examine your stuff and question how much you really need it. If you don’t, out it goes. It’s one more thing taking up space, and one more thing you have to clean.

Also? Don’t believe everything that you read.

UPDATE! I was pointed out to me that “Johns Hopkins” has a lot to say about how plastic wrap in the microwave releases cancer-causing dioxins into our food when microwaved. They certainly do.