Kansas couple eschews A/C despite heat

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SALINA, Kan., July 24 (UPI) -- The answer to rising temperatures is less air conditioning, not more, for one Kansas couple.

Stan Cox of Salina, the 54-year-old author of "Losing Our Cool," contends using less air conditioning is good for the environment and for people's overall health, The New York Times reported Saturday.

"In response to record-breaking summers, we're relying more on air conditioning, which produces greenhouse emissions that make the summers hotter," he said. "It's a cycle that makes you wonder: How long can it go on?"

Cox and his wife, 42-year-old artist Priti Gulati Cox, refuse to cave in to the urge to use an air conditioner even with temperatures in the 90s. Instead, they rely on open windows and fans, wear light clothes, and turn off heat-generating appliances and lights. They also tend to either sit under shade trees outside, gravitate to rooms away from the sun or head to the basement.

"We stay as inert as possible," Stan Cox told the Times. "And you don't want to wear polyester, that's for sure."

"You get used to it and adapt yourself," Priti Cox added.

Her husband agrees.

"It's all about your state of mind and expectations. Ours are relaxed," he said.