Downsizing to a Tiny House is Green – and Great for your Budget!
Look at any inspirational real estate glossies and in between the huge showy houses you’ll also find a gorgeous tiny house. Oo several. Social media site Pinterest is full of them, they’re often featured in the maintream papers and even Fox News covers them!
Downsizing for Green?
Of course it’s green to downsize, but are people buying or building a tiny house to be green?
Some are – and relishing it!
Others downsize for different reasons.
These days, you can have pretty much your fantasy. From a romantic cabin in the woods, to impossibly cute and twee, to space-age modern, to industrial chic in old containers. Leaf through the pages of Inhabitat or Dwell, or scour TinyHouseSwoon.com and Pinterest for everything you can think of.
The Real Reasons?
Apparently, there are 2 main reasons why a tiny house appeals to so many of us.
- Firstly, if you go back to prehistoric times we needed safe shelter where we would be protected from danger but able to see out – a cave in a mountainside overlooking a valley for example. Many tiny homes are open in front and closed at the back.
- Secondly, smaller homes let you completely personalise the space, sending a clear message about who you are and what you value. (I thought you could do that with larger spaces too if you had the capability and money, but who am I to argue with psychologists?).
So, tiny houses are attractive to us because they appeal to our most primitive instincts and our desire to be unique.
It Makes a Difference!
Whatever the reasoning, the fact is that reducing the size of your home is one of the biggest things you can do to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.
Just How Big is Small?
It’s difficult to gain consensus on the exact size of a “small” or a “tiny” house. Many Europeans and Asians are used to smaller living spaces than Americans, for example. But even within the US, there are differences.
One measurement I’ve seen used a few times in the US is:
- Small House: 1,630 sq feet / 151 sq. metres
- Extra Small House: 1.150 sq. feet / 107 sq. metres
- Tiny House: 120 – 500 sq. feet / 11 – 46 sq. metres
Why Get into Debt?
According to Forbes, the average cost of an owner-built tiny house is up to $50,000. This compares very favorably with house prices in the US averaging around $300,000.
Small homes can be ideal for students, graduates, first-time home buyers and retirees.
But they’re not the only ones.
More and more people are asking why they should tie themselves down with huge debt that they spend their lives working to pay off.
Small homes encourage a simpler way of life, with less maintenance, less “stuff” and less baggage.
Whatever the reasons for choosing to live in smaller homes, it’s good for the environment, good financially, and good for a simpler life.
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