Lose Unsightly Fat and Save Money Too: Live with Less
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 03.20.07
Justin showed us theTumbleweed Tiny House Company before, but listen to The Environment Report on living in one. The show interviews Tumbleweed's Jay Shafer, and also Gregory Johnson, who lives in a 140 square foot Tumbleweed house. Gregory is an example of how living with less can change your life:
"He [Jay] showed this little hole I was supposed to crawl through, the passageway to the upstairs to the loft and I thought I might have to lose some weight to get up in there (laughs)."
Johnson says he started really scaling back. He realized if he had a refrigerator, he'd just fill it up with ice cream and pizza. Things he really didn't need. So to save energy, he doesn't have a fridge at all. He started eating nuts and grains and fruit. By shrinking his life down to match his house he lost 100 pounds. :: The Environment Report
Gregory Johnson says it's possible to live a fulfilling life with a LOT less space... especially if you want to live high-tech. He doesn't need a filing cabinet (he scans books and papers into his laptop) and he has all his entertainment needs covered by his iPod. (Photos by Gregory Johnson)
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I love those. Not practical for a family of four, though. Maybe four of them facing onto a central courtyard?
Only problem I have with this is fire safety. The farthest window from the floor hatch (probably the one we can see in the picture above) should be big enough that a person can slide out of it, otherwise its a death trap.
True, just the other night I head off to bed and my wife had HGTV on. They were showing houses in diffrent areas of the country. I was floored by the commentator refering to a 2300 Sq. Ft. 4bedroom house that a single man bought as a stater home!!
Many peoples perception of housing is very messed up. 1 bed room in a house now is as big as some houses from the 50's and people raised 3+ kids in some of those houses. If you live in Chicagoland here is an interesting place to visit.
http://www.ci.rolling-meadows.il.us/historical_museum.htm
The picture makes it look big but that garage is the visitors center and is only connected to the house with a open breezeway. The house does not extend back beyond the end wall that you see in front of the garage. The house has no basement either. I've been through it and I'd say it's probably 1200Sq. feet. 3+ kids, 1 small bath living room about 12+12.
Ya 2300sq foot starter for 1. Rolling Eyes here.
I could definitely live in one of those houses. If only I could ditch the wife. (Wives are very un-treehugger.)
1200 Sq. ft!!! That would be so wonderful. We are a family of 6 and have 800-900 Sq. ft. It's a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath house. We are not complaining we love our place. I guess it just depends on what you are used to living with.
Hopefully the single guy with the 2300 q. ft. starter is putting it to good use and it benefits other as well. Rather than just being some place to buy more junk he'll never use to impress people he doesn't like!
You could achieve an identical quality of life by doing something that will get you sent to prison for a long time. And while you won't need to forrage for nuts and berries to survive, you'll probably be forced to participate in some equally distasteful activities. Particularly if you happen to be an excitable, aging, metrosexual "architect".
Ok, so this dude they're talking about, Greg Johnson, is my brother. I love the guy and I love what he's doing to bring attention to his little house!
But when you divide the amount of house you get per square foot, it's not an economically-viable decision for most people. It's like over $80/per sq. ft., right? And if you want to get people to really think about changing the way they live, you have to articulate the economic benefits and the value being delivered relative to the other alternatives that are out there, right?
That being said, I still think it's a great way of life for some people! It works for Greg because he lives such an active lifestyle where he travels all over, spends time with friends, and he does a lot of outdoor activities. In the end he really just needs a place to sleep at night. In which case, financially, given his particular setup he actually does come out ahead versus paying rent for an efficiency because he owns the house.
Also, what I like the most is the spirit behind it -- it basically says, "I want to simplify my life and transcend all the financial and marketing traps in modern society so that I can have more free time and money to take control of future I create for myself and invest in the things that matter to both me and the community." Right on.
But lots of people like to spend time at home whether it's to relax or be with their family. So the ultimate question we need to start asking ourselves as a society is how we can we provide affordable and simple housing that doesn't cost over $80/per sq. ft. that's also sustainable, environmentally friendly, and fosters a greater sense of community among neighbors. The jury is still out on that one.
But I think the ideas presented on http://www.cohousing.org are taking us in the right direction. Check it out!
Where would I put my 60" Plasma tv?