Tiny House: Are you a Hippie?

Absolutely not. In fact, I should apologize to anyone I've ever accused of being a hippie because I'm about to embrace everything from recycled water to a composting toilet.

I am being thrown head first into a category I know close to nothing about. The extent of my recycling is if the recycling bin is closer than the trash can, I use it. I buy Ziploc bags, paper towels, water bottles, individually packaged snacks, and I usually forget my reusable bags when I go shopping at Aldi. 

Oh 7. I've posted some of my experience with this book in other blog posts, you can read those here. I haven't posted anything about media or waste because I've been terrible at those experiments. My media fast lasted all of two days and I basically skipped the waste experiment entirely. 

The problem is that tiny houses don't allow room for my Sam's Club bulk purchases of paper towels and water bottles...so I will be forced into learning new, more sustainable, efficient habits. Like using fabric napkins and maybe a Nalgene?

It will matter how much water we consume on a daily basis because our water supply will no longer be unlimited. But let's face it, our water supply really isn't unlimited...we just don't feel the pressure of a quickly diminishing water supply because we don't live in an area that's effected by it, but many parts of the country and world are already dealing with the reality that we use our resources at a far greater rate than the earth can sustain. 

I cringed when I wrote that last sentence. I'm already shifting sides...here's the thing I am learning through 7. Creation shouldn't be a separate topic from the Creator. God cares about the earth, and he left it in our hands. My attitude of "who cares, it won't make a difference anyway" is probably not what He had in mind.

So maybe this tiny house is a way for me to learn that being green isn't a political issue. Just as I am learning that my heart really is connected to the stuff I spend my money on, maybe I will gain a new appreciation for the wonder of creation by embracing a lifestyle that is environmentally friendly. 

A lot of people venture into the tiny house movement solely because of the reduced environmental impact. Let me assure you, this was the last thing on our mind. But wouldn't you know, it is one of the rare instances where going green actually costs less.  Tiny houses, by nature, are green. They use less energy, water, fuel and are often built using recycled material (translation in my brain: less money spent on my electric and water bill). 

The idea of our family "going green" is laughable if you saw the extent of our consumption right now. I think about reducing my environmental footprint as much as Zac thinks about shoe shopping...never.

But here we go.