I have conceived one (huge) change that would directly impact many of our modern world's ills: water shortage, lack of affordable housing, excessive trash and pollution, and ridiculous accretion of personal stuff.
Living in a tiny house on wheels has afforded me both a new world perspective and more free time to cogitate upon it.
We expected the tiny life of the tiny mobile house to leave an indelible mark upon us, and I can already feel this beginning. Having your own, personal, self-contained, electrical, fresh, and dirty water systems, one becomes acutely aware of how much water or electricity you're using; where, when and how to get more; how much waste you are producing, and the steps you must routinely take to dispose of it. You become much more efficient at using less, when you know that all you have is X number of gallons of fresh water, and X gallons of space for the "used" water. You turn off unnecessary electrical draws when you know that you only have 132 AmpHours usable juice in your batteries, running the Vitamix for 6 minutes uses 22 AmpHours, and you can only generate 60 AmpHours per day with your solar panels. On sunny days.
And the other thing, living in a small, mobile space makes you highly aware of Your Stuff. You only have a small place to store it, so you become much more judicious about what you really need. When your space is full, if you want a new widget, well then, something else has to go! Like nomads of yore who bore their possessions upon their backs as they roamed, every possession is evaluated carefully for its worth. Do you really need a walk-in closet full of clothes? No. You do not.
If everyone were as aware of their systemic inputs and outputs as those living in a not-plugged-in RV, oh my, would not our populous be thriftier and more efficient in their consumptions? Sadly, probably not...were it a voluntary affair.
We expected the tiny life of the tiny mobile house to leave an indelible mark upon us, and I can already feel this beginning. Having your own, personal, self-contained, electrical, fresh, and dirty water systems, one becomes acutely aware of how much water or electricity you're using; where, when and how to get more; how much waste you are producing, and the steps you must routinely take to dispose of it. You become much more efficient at using less, when you know that all you have is X number of gallons of fresh water, and X gallons of space for the "used" water. You turn off unnecessary electrical draws when you know that you only have 132 AmpHours usable juice in your batteries, running the Vitamix for 6 minutes uses 22 AmpHours, and you can only generate 60 AmpHours per day with your solar panels. On sunny days.
And the other thing, living in a small, mobile space makes you highly aware of Your Stuff. You only have a small place to store it, so you become much more judicious about what you really need. When your space is full, if you want a new widget, well then, something else has to go! Like nomads of yore who bore their possessions upon their backs as they roamed, every possession is evaluated carefully for its worth. Do you really need a walk-in closet full of clothes? No. You do not.
If everyone were as aware of their systemic inputs and outputs as those living in a not-plugged-in RV, oh my, would not our populous be thriftier and more efficient in their consumptions? Sadly, probably not...were it a voluntary affair.
But were compliance with a brave new world of minimized environmental impacts instead not voluntary, but mandatory, what a dramatically different place we would inhabit! One change could effect it all: Outlaw conventional housing, and mandate tiny houses for everyone!
In one fell swoop the masses would become acutely aware of what it takes to live, day to day, far more in tune with their impact on the world. (And far less able to do damage on a personal level).
I see two problems with all of this though. The big thing, of course, is that no one would go for it. The only way it could ever happen is if it were forced by circumstances beyond our control. So, the Zombie Apocalypse or such.
The second problem: Just imagine the waiting line at the RV dump station :-/
I see two problems with all of this though. The big thing, of course, is that no one would go for it. The only way it could ever happen is if it were forced by circumstances beyond our control. So, the Zombie Apocalypse or such.
The second problem: Just imagine the waiting line at the RV dump station :-/
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