Living small

Published 6:29 pm Saturday, April 12, 2008

It might be driven by the current mortgage crisis and the rising cost of living. Some say it was because of a story on The Oprah Winfrey Show last year.

It could be due to an increased awareness of how our carbon footprint is contributing to global climate changes. Most likely it’s some combination of all of the above.

Whatever the motivation, one of the hottest new trends is going green by living small.

More and more consumers are trading in their big overloaded houses for small-footprint homes. Some are quite tiny and some are entirely off-the-grid.

“I think people are re-evaluating where they want to invest their money and time,” said Gregory Johnson, president of the Small House Society and director of ResourcesForLife.com. “There is also a desire to carry less debt, or even be debt free. Smaller homes make it possible to have a home and be debt free sooner.”

Johnson, who has been featured on PBS, NPR and in publications such as Time, the Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, and Wired, recently celebrated the release of his new book, “Put Your Life on a Diet: Lessons Learned From Living in 140 Square Feet.” It helps readers identify ways to de-clutter, downsize and simplify.

“New technologies are shrinking our world,” Johnson said. “It’s now possible to store books, music, movies, maps, television shows and e-mail, and have access to billions of Web pages — all from a pocket-size device.”

Not everyone is keen on giving up their large traditional homes for something as tiny as the miniature, battery-powered “mobile hermitage” that Johnson discusses in his book, but there is definitely an increased interest in smaller, self-contained cabin homes.

“People are really starting to think about getting off-the-grid,” said Phil Tribuzio of Aurora Quality Buildings in Marysville. “I’ve been getting a lot of people coming in and saying, ‘We’re tired of working for our house payment.’ We’re showing people that they can live in a 200 square-foot building, fully functional and off-the-grid, for less than the price of an average new car,” he said.

According to Snohomish County officials, statewide you can build up to a 200 square-feet storage structure without a permit, and in unincorporated Snohomish County, up to a 400 square-feet structure is allowed.

However, you will have to apply for the proper permits if you intend to live in them, or to allow someone else to live in them — just as you would for a bigger home.

There are many companies that offer house plans and building services for these small-footprint homes. Just recently, the California-based Tumbleweed Tiny House Co., which was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s show, offered a workshop in Seattle to teach people how to build tiny houses themselves.

Two-story cabin homes from Aurora Quality Buildings are constructed onsite by company employees. Interior floor plans can be customized to meet the buyer’s needs. Although small, they can comfortably fit two adults, Tribuzio says. Originally, they were intended (and can still be used) as vacation cabins to fit up to a family of four.

The aspect of these tiny homes that many people find really intriguing is the concept of going off-the-grid and not having any more utility bills. Solar power has come a long way in the last few years. It’s reliable, too.

Although Washington state is not known for having a great sunshine record, power can still be generated on overcast days.

Batteries store the energy produced by the solar system. The amount should be sufficient to power a small-footprint home.

If it is not enough, homeowners can always use a standard back-up generator.

Because appliances are power hungry, off-the-grid homeowners usually prefer to rely on propane refrigerators and stoves.

Propane is considered a green source of energy because it produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than fuel oil or electricity.

Propane can also be used to operate a small home’s toilet system. Independent toilet systems usually fall into two types, incinerators or composters. Both are designed for indoor use and are said to be odor free.

The next consideration is drinkable water. Tribuzio says many cabin owners opt for large five-gallon bottled water dispensers.

One concern that downsizers sometimes have is what to do about lack of entertaining space. Johnson has not found this to be an issue. It’s simply a matter of re-thinking how and where you entertain.

“Communities are offering more public spaces for work, socializing, entertaining and fitness training,” he said. “The kind of in-home entertaining of the 1950s is really a thing of the past. These days, people meet at coffee houses, parks and gyms to socialize.”

Of course, it’s not necessary to downsize to a cabin or micro-home as small as Johnson’s. Rethinking the amount of space that you or your family really needs is a way to save money for other things in life, and it’s also much better for the environment.