Does the thought of being without a mortgage and being able to cart your home with you wherever you feel like moving to next appeal to you, but you’re unsure whether you’re really cut out for the tiny house life? Maybe this piece of information will be the push you need to make a tiny house your home. A tiny house uses 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year in comparison to the 28,000 pounds of carbon dioxide used by an average-sized home in one year. A tiny house requires less lumber to build, less electricity to operate, and less energy to heat and cool it. There is no denying that when it comes to living situations, a tiny house is a more eco-friendly option than a typical American home.
With a world that is scrambling to meet the housing needs of its population and a culture that is growing to become more invested in the idea of sustainability, tiny houses can meet some of our most immediate needs. In addition to being eco-friendly, they can be built quickly and cheaply. On top of all these big perks that affect really everyone (at least indirectly), tiny houses can now also be fully personalized and made to feel homey in the way most suitable to your liking. Even if taking on a more minimalist lifestyle by becoming a tiny house owner and dweller is your ultimate dream, that dream most likely does not include having your new house feel more like a tiny box than a tiny home.
With so many ways to design, decorate, and organize a tiny house, you can really make the place tailored to your tastes and to your lifestyle. Many builders offer options to add components like an outside deck, or a loft, or even a large farmhouse sink to their builds. This flexibility truly gives anyone interested in tiny house living the ability to create a space that feels like home and that fits their needs and how they live their life.
Tiny houses are greener options for living and can be built to suit you personally, but recognizing the capability tiny houses have to help solve urban housing issues is important, too. In Detroit, the local organization CASS Community Social Services is working to house some of the city’s low-income residents in new tiny house builds. Using a low-rent, rent-to-buy program, the organization is able to house people in need at low costs (both in the building of them and as a result, in rent for the tenants). Not only are tiny houses helping save the world through their green ways, but also in solving housing crisis of those who are unable to afford other housing options.
Capitalizing on the opportunities that tiny houses present us with will help make the world greener with their comparatively low energy and resource needs, while helping the community in the process. Plus, you can have a personalized space, with the option to be mobile and debt-free.
Even though tiny houses are great for the economy and for a budget, not everyone is suited for life in a tiny home. If you think you are ready for the change, give it a trail run. Rent a storage unit and put all of your belongings in it. If you decide that you are not ready for tiny living you can find a new place without having to buy everything you need again.
