We purchased 2 acres on a hilltop today. Half is woods, the other half, open hillside. As soon as the deed is filed, I will begin construction of our 400 square foot (20X20) house. When construction is completed, I plan to install some solar panels and a wind generator in the open area of the property. This is our retirment plan....and our plan to make our "foot print" much smaller. I hope more and more people will join us!
My family have been pro-animal rights vegans since 1980. All patriotic freedom-loving Americans are vegan. You don't know what loss of freedom is until you put yourself into a factory farm for the rest of your life like the cows and pigs and chickens suffer. Since 1980 my siblings and I have fought human breeding and fought for tough laws mandating vasectomies for males.
The next step is to give up our cars and buy electric-assist trikes.
@mphello, I totally support abolition of factory farming and cheer on your fight to reduce human breeding -- especially in males. You go!! But humans weren't designed to be vegan. Our food-growing nutrient cycles need animals to help feed the soil as well as to feed humans. Take a look at Joel Salatin's work at Polyface farms: using animals (chickens, rabbits, pigs, cows) to fertilize the pasture, rotating them, and building soil.
@peakmoment I never said humans are designed to be vegan, but we're not designed to be omnivores, either. We're not "designed" for anything. No creature is. They'll just consume whatever is most convenient for them.
@mphello, I'm the one who said "designed", not you. Better word could be "co-evolved." By which I mean humans have evolved to be omnivores. In The Vegetarian Myth, Lierre Keith reproduce s a table from The Stone Age Diet (Voegtlin) comparing humans, dogs and sheep - teeth, jaw, stomach, gall bladder, digestive activity, feeding habits, guts. The table results show that humans are built to eat meat. Doesn't mean we don't also eat anything else -- but we don't digest cellulose (grass).
Do the global-warming deniers think that we will run out of coal and oil so soon that we will avoid damage from GW? Is THAT why they don't believe it?
If we run out of coal and oil in 3 years like the GW-deniers say we will, then we absolutely HAVE to change our lifestyles NOW, by law, on penalty of prison, to avoid mass starvation.
Small houses are great for saving energy, but definitely not healthy for families, especialy if you like your own space. This lady is selling a book and some subtle and not so subtle B.S.
We have been brainwashed in this world to think that we need to fill our lives up with lots of crap and have HUGE houses paying BIG 4.3% 30 Yr Mortgage Rates. All this crap comes from banks, realtor companies, and government, to keep us under their boot.
Global warming!!!! Don't you all feel like idiots now? There is no human global warming, just global pollution by large corporations, like BP, Monsanto, ect. A small house is a fine idea to live within your means and not loose your home to foreclosure. Lots of fine reason, but not global warming FRAUD
@TheJourneyfortruth: Two scientific reports with numerous data points (locations) just out: first half of 2010 has highest temperatures in recorded history (over 150 years). Record high temperatures in Russia.
@peakmoment I no longer trust their "data points" since the last ones were placed at "hot" spots. This has also been the coldest winter on record for argentina and many locations in the United States are experiencing their coldest summer. We have gone into a cooling period. It isn't caused by humans either. It's natural for the earth to heat and to cool. The ice caps aren't melting and the polar bears aren't drowning. Research, don't take their word for it, they have an agenda.
@peakmoment 40 years ago they were telling us global warming was going to raise sea levels and cause massive flooding..id go to the shore every now and then for years to check how much it rose.guess what?...it never rose one iota and now 40 years later we still have this nonsense spouted at us..global warming is fake,there is no man made global warming,sustainable development is a con to eradicate us from the planet willingly...
@claymoreman90, global warming effects like sea level rise doesn't happening uniformly across the planet. The island nations in the South Pacific are first in line -- and already their fresh water sources are being contaminated by seawater as it rises.
I think "sustainable development" is an oxymoron. What's required is for humans to live sustainably, within the limits of the planet's resources.
@claymoreman90 And Bush said terrorism would end after the Iraq War. Yet, clearly, all the anti-terrorism alarmists were wrong. Terrorism still exists, but it is caused by banksters: JP Morgan.
Get over it: AGW is real, serious, and now. Read the IPCC peer-reviewed journals.
I recently purchased a 1 bedroom home that is less than 640 square feet. I look forward to living minimally in the space. I'm having a hard time getting rid of my material items. While my main interest was a smaller home I feel a minimalistic lifestyle goes hand in hand with that. Do you know of any videos or websites that address the minimalist/simplistic lifestyle in addition to smaller homes?
@MikeyBagofDonuts You may want to checkout the rowdykittens blog. She blogs frequently on the topics you mentioned and has quite a few links on her resources/blogroll page to further information.
@ceahorse56, sounds just perfect for a couple. Although one might need a little more space if you like doing projects perhaps. At times our 1500 square feels much too big (and too easy to accumulate stuff!).
i want to build self sustaining (80%) shipping container homes...about 1200 sq ft total...i believe each unit could be completed under 30k....and EVERYONE could be a home owner...the interiors could be near 100 percent recycled building materials and would feature built in furnishings such as murphy beds, dc led lighting systems and grey water recycling.
we can clear a forest in a few min lol? wow STOP REPRODUCING IF YOU WANT TO SAVE THE WORLD PLEASE thats the problem!! gandhi was a racist and a shitty human being!! i want a small house because it's cheaper and
easy to go off the grid!! but big houses are not killing the earth or making people lonely thats just ridiculous!! these yuppie hippies use every thing but then say it's horrible people with 2 houses have produced more and with all the welfare their is NO reason to be homeless in the us
Beautiful, fabulous, wonderful, thoughtful. Everyone I know can't afford to retire in the homes they purchased. Or work just to keep "stuff". I've always thought this way, but didn't know there'd come to a be a small house "movement". I look forward to building my small, comfortable luxury, efficient dreamhouse. Not tiny like many shown here, but small and warm, not a mansion that I need help maintaining. It's gotten out of hand.
@aprilspl - If you have a chance check out my blog, RowdyKittens. I write about the small house movement frequently. Also, there are a lot of links you might find useful on my blogroll page. :)
Shay's book "Little House on a Small Planet" is an awesome resource.
Shay's book "Little House on a Small Planet" has photos of many interiors, including some with lofts and houses on wheels. You can buy the book or borrow it through interlibrary loan (most libraries have this service).
I picked her book up a while back and glad to see so many people more inline with what they really need. Thanks for the video and lots of great postings
I've w0rked in construction for almost 30 years and this woman is totally correct in what she is saying. People build houses , in general much too large for them. the payment is also much too large. well done!
I know and have worked with Shay Salomen, and she is absolutely brilliant. Anyone interested in building design or building their own home should read this book or take a workshop with Shay. She is AMAZING!!!
Oh, you must feel pleased and maybe a bit smug -- you're already living the small house life! (Or maybe I'm just a bit envious :-) It surely must be faster to clean and clear out the clutter. What I'd miss in that space is a projects area -- sewing, painting. But maybe that's done in a different place?
Wow, what a great idea, I thought about converting my dads 1960's Fallout shelter he built into an underground dwelling. I thought it would be excellant to install solar panels on the ground\roof and the ground installation would be great in the winter. No need for alumiumn siding or painting the exterior or worry about them pesky terminites lol.
I lived in a two-bedroom house overseas, growing up, with a large family. Four of us siblings shared a single room, with two bunk beds, three desks, a dresser and a bookshelf. We put more bookshelves in the hallway, and learned how to study with the younger ones' playing sounds, which has done wonders for my powers of concentration.
Makes a lot of sense economically, envioronmentally...and I think it can help families feel closer (literally and emotionally). Personally, I would rather have a smaller, more cozy home. Less to furnish and more importantly...less to CLEAN! Thanks for posting this vid.
Thank you very much for the interview! Shay has a wonderfully calm and peaceful way of talking that made listening even more enjoyable. I also live in a very small room in a house with seven other people and even though there are difficulties we are all very happy. There is a lot of truth in "less house and more home". Thank you again!
I especially wanted to tape Shay because of my experience living in a shared household in the early 1980s. And now, my partner and I live and work in a 1500 sq ft house (and even that is more than we need).
They're a great renewable resource in regions with enough sunshine. We're going to need electricity produced from many different renewable resources -- starting first with conservation and efficiency. In addition to solar panels, how about wind, biomass, maybe algae for biodiesel, geothermal.
Well said. That was a fine episode.Heard an interview on NPR with Dee Williams yesterday about her small Home here in Wa. Been pondering RV for living for a few years, Dee's conclusion is appealing . I'd love to see an episode on the Homes of Shay and her peers.
We purchased 2 acres on a hilltop today. Half is woods, the other half, open hillside. As soon as the deed is filed, I will begin construction of our 400 square foot (20X20) house. When construction is completed, I plan to install some solar panels and a wind generator in the open area of the property. This is our retirment plan....and our plan to make our "foot print" much smaller. I hope more and more people will join us!
deepbeeps 5 months ago
My family have been pro-animal rights vegans since 1980. All patriotic freedom-loving Americans are vegan. You don't know what loss of freedom is until you put yourself into a factory farm for the rest of your life like the cows and pigs and chickens suffer. Since 1980 my siblings and I have fought human breeding and fought for tough laws mandating vasectomies for males.
The next step is to give up our cars and buy electric-assist trikes.
mphello 10 months ago
@mphello, I totally support abolition of factory farming and cheer on your fight to reduce human breeding -- especially in males. You go!! But humans weren't designed to be vegan. Our food-growing nutrient cycles need animals to help feed the soil as well as to feed humans. Take a look at Joel Salatin's work at Polyface farms: using animals (chickens, rabbits, pigs, cows) to fertilize the pasture, rotating them, and building soil.
peakmoment 10 months ago
@peakmoment If non-human animal waste can be used to fertilize pastures, why can't human waste?
Why is there a hygiene issue with human waste?
mphello 10 months ago
@mphello Seriously, I'm not asking rhetorically. I want to know why.
mphello 10 months ago
@peakmoment I never said humans are designed to be vegan, but we're not designed to be omnivores, either. We're not "designed" for anything. No creature is. They'll just consume whatever is most convenient for them.
mphello 10 months ago
@mphello, I'm the one who said "designed", not you. Better word could be "co-evolved." By which I mean humans have evolved to be omnivores. In The Vegetarian Myth, Lierre Keith reproduce s a table from The Stone Age Diet (Voegtlin) comparing humans, dogs and sheep - teeth, jaw, stomach, gall bladder, digestive activity, feeding habits, guts. The table results show that humans are built to eat meat. Doesn't mean we don't also eat anything else -- but we don't digest cellulose (grass).
peakmoment 10 months ago
Do the global-warming deniers think that we will run out of coal and oil so soon that we will avoid damage from GW? Is THAT why they don't believe it?
If we run out of coal and oil in 3 years like the GW-deniers say we will, then we absolutely HAVE to change our lifestyles NOW, by law, on penalty of prison, to avoid mass starvation.
mphello 10 months ago
we need some acdc in the back ground i am about to...... fall as......leep.......... zzzzzzzzz
xxNilumxx 10 months ago
Small houses are great for saving energy, but definitely not healthy for families, especialy if you like your own space. This lady is selling a book and some subtle and not so subtle B.S.
spartaeus 1 year ago
there voices are very calming
jdizzle120100 1 year ago
its like watching npr
jdizzle120100 1 year ago
youtube.com/watch?v=LO9695AMgtM&feature=related
thetinybungalow
I love my tiny bungalow
you live in a small home your priorities change and you find that you don't need most of the stuff you thought you needed.
peakmoment is the best !!!!!
1971mgb 1 year ago
We have been brainwashed in this world to think that we need to fill our lives up with lots of crap and have HUGE houses paying BIG 4.3% 30 Yr Mortgage Rates. All this crap comes from banks, realtor companies, and government, to keep us under their boot.
Blackwater200 1 year ago
Global warming!!!! Don't you all feel like idiots now? There is no human global warming, just global pollution by large corporations, like BP, Monsanto, ect. A small house is a fine idea to live within your means and not loose your home to foreclosure. Lots of fine reason, but not global warming FRAUD
TheJourneyfortruth 1 year ago
@TheJourneyfortruth: Two scientific reports with numerous data points (locations) just out: first half of 2010 has highest temperatures in recorded history (over 150 years). Record high temperatures in Russia.
peakmoment 1 year ago
@peakmoment I no longer trust their "data points" since the last ones were placed at "hot" spots. This has also been the coldest winter on record for argentina and many locations in the United States are experiencing their coldest summer. We have gone into a cooling period. It isn't caused by humans either. It's natural for the earth to heat and to cool. The ice caps aren't melting and the polar bears aren't drowning. Research, don't take their word for it, they have an agenda.
TheJourneyfortruth 1 year ago
@TheJourneyfortruth No. Who is "they" who were telling us exagerrated claims of sea level rise by this time?
Do you mean peer-reviewed journals in the fields of climatology and oceanography?
And not just some pop-tv scientist giving armchair pronouncements from his livingroom?
Even a person's a past credentials don't trump a formal scientific or mathematical proof that says otherwise.
A topologist who claims Fermat's Last Theorem is false and cites their status as a mathematician is a fool.
mphello 10 months ago
@peakmoment 40 years ago they were telling us global warming was going to raise sea levels and cause massive flooding..id go to the shore every now and then for years to check how much it rose.guess what?...it never rose one iota and now 40 years later we still have this nonsense spouted at us..global warming is fake,there is no man made global warming,sustainable development is a con to eradicate us from the planet willingly...
claymoreman90 1 year ago
@claymoreman90, global warming effects like sea level rise doesn't happening uniformly across the planet. The island nations in the South Pacific are first in line -- and already their fresh water sources are being contaminated by seawater as it rises.
I think "sustainable development" is an oxymoron. What's required is for humans to live sustainably, within the limits of the planet's resources.
peakmoment 1 year ago
@claymoreman90 And Bush said terrorism would end after the Iraq War. Yet, clearly, all the anti-terrorism alarmists were wrong. Terrorism still exists, but it is caused by banksters: JP Morgan.
Get over it: AGW is real, serious, and now. Read the IPCC peer-reviewed journals.
Stop your bullshit "research" on the internet.
mphello 10 months ago
@TheJourneyfortruth Agree 100% these people are obviously part of the agenda... I wonder what following the money would turn up.
Get rid of the loneliness? Paaalease - I know a great way to get rid of the lonliness and save on ALL your bills its called A FEMACAMP CELL.
propaganda.
-TEW
theeastwatch 1 year ago
I recently purchased a 1 bedroom home that is less than 640 square feet. I look forward to living minimally in the space. I'm having a hard time getting rid of my material items. While my main interest was a smaller home I feel a minimalistic lifestyle goes hand in hand with that. Do you know of any videos or websites that address the minimalist/simplistic lifestyle in addition to smaller homes?
MikeyBagofDonuts 1 year ago
@MikeyBagofDonuts You may want to checkout the rowdykittens blog. She blogs frequently on the topics you mentioned and has quite a few links on her resources/blogroll page to further information.
Cheers, Logan.
loganenator 1 year ago
As empty nesters and down sizing we now live in 980 sq ft in the country. Sometime it still seem to big! Our favorite room is our screen in porch!
ceahorse56 1 year ago
@ceahorse56, sounds just perfect for a couple. Although one might need a little more space if you like doing projects perhaps. At times our 1500 square feels much too big (and too easy to accumulate stuff!).
peakmoment 1 year ago
I enjoyed this so much, Thank you Janaia. What is a house? It is just four walls to contain the dreamer?
Thekozlowskis 2 years ago
i want to build self sustaining (80%) shipping container homes...about 1200 sq ft total...i believe each unit could be completed under 30k....and EVERYONE could be a home owner...the interiors could be near 100 percent recycled building materials and would feature built in furnishings such as murphy beds, dc led lighting systems and grey water recycling.
centervilletn 2 years ago
Being thrifty is greener than being "Green".
wilsonspaulding 2 years ago
their fare share is what they earn not what the steal!!
carveawoodeneye 2 years ago
we can clear a forest in a few min lol? wow STOP REPRODUCING IF YOU WANT TO SAVE THE WORLD PLEASE thats the problem!! gandhi was a racist and a shitty human being!! i want a small house because it's cheaper and
easy to go off the grid!! but big houses are not killing the earth or making people lonely thats just ridiculous!! these yuppie hippies use every thing but then say it's horrible people with 2 houses have produced more and with all the welfare their is NO reason to be homeless in the us
carveawoodeneye 2 years ago
@carveawoodeneye Yuppies are not hippies. Yuppies were the 1980s Ronald Reagan-loving Wall Street stock traders.
How was gandhi "racist"? Naive and stupid, thinking non-violence will solve anything.
Yes - my friends and family hate octomom-braindead breeding and breeders.
I'll have to watch this whole video to see if they actually say big houses make people "lonely".
Indeed, that would be bullshit.
mphello 10 months ago
Beautiful, fabulous, wonderful, thoughtful. Everyone I know can't afford to retire in the homes they purchased. Or work just to keep "stuff". I've always thought this way, but didn't know there'd come to a be a small house "movement". I look forward to building my small, comfortable luxury, efficient dreamhouse. Not tiny like many shown here, but small and warm, not a mansion that I need help maintaining. It's gotten out of hand.
TheLovely5FF 2 years ago
@aprilspl - If you have a chance check out my blog, RowdyKittens. I write about the small house movement frequently. Also, there are a lot of links you might find useful on my blogroll page. :)
Shay's book "Little House on a Small Planet" is an awesome resource.
RowdyKittensDotCom 2 years ago
Where can I see more about little houses? Do you have photos or videos of inside or outside?
What about split levels or lofts?
aprilspl 2 years ago
Shay's book "Little House on a Small Planet" has photos of many interiors, including some with lofts and houses on wheels. You can buy the book or borrow it through interlibrary loan (most libraries have this service).
peakmoment 2 years ago
Wow! I got an answer and fast. great information and thank you for the reply I'll look for the book. :)
aprilspl 2 years ago
I picked her book up a while back and glad to see so many people more inline with what they really need. Thanks for the video and lots of great postings
19Spencer80 2 years ago
I've w0rked in construction for almost 30 years and this woman is totally correct in what she is saying. People build houses , in general much too large for them. the payment is also much too large. well done!
99cachorro 2 years ago
I really enjoyed this video, thank you for sharing it.
beermangary 2 years ago
I know and have worked with Shay Salomen, and she is absolutely brilliant. Anyone interested in building design or building their own home should read this book or take a workshop with Shay. She is AMAZING!!!
Permaculture4Peace 3 years ago
well...the outside space is a large garden, a deck...and the whole permacultural project is in itself a creative project...my videos are at
permacultureli...love your interviews and am very happy to have found peak moment...you are a wonderful interviewer.
permacultureli 3 years ago
wonderful, deep, enlightening...lovely, soothing!!
I just adored listening to this conversation as I uncluttered my10X14' house this morning...thank You!.
permacultureli 3 years ago
Oh, you must feel pleased and maybe a bit smug -- you're already living the small house life! (Or maybe I'm just a bit envious :-) It surely must be faster to clean and clear out the clutter. What I'd miss in that space is a projects area -- sewing, painting. But maybe that's done in a different place?
peakmoment 3 years ago
lol it's funny that shes burping throughout the video from being pregnant, made me laugh.
Russticle 3 years ago
pretty cool vid.
BlacklitFloater 3 years ago
Thank you so very much. Rose and I love our little house.
michaelispan 3 years ago 2
We luv our little house.
michaelispan 3 years ago 2
Wow, what a great idea, I thought about converting my dads 1960's Fallout shelter he built into an underground dwelling. I thought it would be excellant to install solar panels on the ground\roof and the ground installation would be great in the winter. No need for alumiumn siding or painting the exterior or worry about them pesky terminites lol.
valhala56 3 years ago 6
@valhala56 That's an awesome idea, and heating/cooling much cheaper as well, as underground tends to stay around same temp year round.
Arudanel 1 year ago
thank you for this video. I especially enjoyed the montage of beautiful pictures of the small spaces.
MerryChicky 3 years ago 2
Thank you. I have ordered your book on Ebay.
a74403875 3 years ago 2
I lived in a two-bedroom house overseas, growing up, with a large family. Four of us siblings shared a single room, with two bunk beds, three desks, a dresser and a bookshelf. We put more bookshelves in the hallway, and learned how to study with the younger ones' playing sounds, which has done wonders for my powers of concentration.
scientastic 3 years ago 2
Makes a lot of sense economically, envioronmentally...and I think it can help families feel closer (literally and emotionally). Personally, I would rather have a smaller, more cozy home. Less to furnish and more importantly...less to CLEAN! Thanks for posting this vid.
greentxmama 3 years ago 2
Thank you very much for the interview! Shay has a wonderfully calm and peaceful way of talking that made listening even more enjoyable. I also live in a very small room in a house with seven other people and even though there are difficulties we are all very happy. There is a lot of truth in "less house and more home". Thank you again!
Kajawenja 3 years ago
I especially wanted to tape Shay because of my experience living in a shared household in the early 1980s. And now, my partner and I live and work in a 1500 sq ft house (and even that is more than we need).
peakmoment 3 years ago
thanks for posting!
theproducegarden 3 years ago
ya Geo-thermals the way to go! I think we need to research this heavily, this is a great heat/energy source that will never die.
Veggieforce 3 years ago
solar panels are the answer to energy for homes, simple
odin422 3 years ago
They're a great renewable resource in regions with enough sunshine. We're going to need electricity produced from many different renewable resources -- starting first with conservation and efficiency. In addition to solar panels, how about wind, biomass, maybe algae for biodiesel, geothermal.
peakmoment 3 years ago
ive seen some houses in the UK built in a dig shallow with gardens for roofs, great for temperature regulation, and a low profile =-)
odin422 3 years ago
Well said. That was a fine episode.Heard an interview on NPR with Dee Williams yesterday about her small Home here in Wa. Been pondering RV for living for a few years, Dee's conclusion is appealing . I'd love to see an episode on the Homes of Shay and her peers.
jojo808 3 years ago