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As gardeners , we ’re connected to the earth in ways that other multitude just are n’t . Naturally , we ’re interested in other type of sustainable and ground - favorable pursuit … I know I am !
I ’ve been reading about alternative lodging ideas for a while now and resolve to put together a list of the coolest alternative housing options that I could find .
I desire you savour these conception as much as I have . There are so many unlike cool variations out there to make for ecologically - minded , longsighted - terminal figure solvent for housing . This list only begins a much longer conversation !
Hunker Down in an Earthship
Earthships have been around for a foresighted metre now and are one of the most pop types of alternative lodging selection out there . The finish of an Earthship is to be as sustainable as possible , consort to these 6 rule :
To get wind more about Earthships , check out their internet site .
Fulfill a Childhood Dream and Live in a Treehouse
I grow up in an area without many tree , and certainly not tree big enough to build a treehouse in . But some people have made this life style work , even taking it as far asrenting their treehouses out on Airbnbfor other hoi polloi to test drive the treehouse life-style .
If you ’ve always wanted to build a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree house and fulfill your childhood dream , there are a lot of resources to get you started . Here ’s a good linkto put you on the correct path.
FutureShack
The FutureShack is an theme conceived by Sean Godsell . The idea is to have a mass - produce house that can be relocated on a moment ’s notice .
The body structure is composed of a merchant marine container and then a cap shade on top to keep down estrus absorption by the container . It ’s an incredibly creative fast - shelter option for pinch or simply for those looking for a simpler life.
acquire more about the FutureShack.
Buy a Fixer-Upper
Although this is n’t the most glamourous selection , it ’s just a fact of life that buying a fixer - upper is a great alternative housing choice . For those of you who are do - it - yourselfers , you may save a lot of money by buying an “ surly ” business firm and doing a lot of the cleansing body of work yourself .
In fact , when I buy my first home , I will probably be either progress it from scratch ( and documenting it here for you all ) , or buy a fixer - upper and modifying it heavily!
Enter the Future in an Ecocapsule
Talk about a futuristic ( but simple ) way to exist . The Ecocapsule is a super - sustainable and super modest off - grid life option . It has the capacity to be off - grid for 1 - 2 hoi polloi for up to a twelvemonth or so .
While the task is only just launching with 50 capsules to start , if this model proves pop I depend we ’ll see more Ecocapsules as well as other company fall in in on the small - scale off - grid model.
read more about the Ecocapsule.
Another exchangeable theme is the Free Spirit Sphere , profiled here.
Live on a Boat
While the boat pictured above is an uttermost example of the lifestyle , gravy holder living is nevertheless a pop mode to live for hundreds of thousands of hoi polloi around the world . Most prefer for a simpler setup on a sailboat that ’s moored in a harbour , give only harbor fees as their “ tear . ”
If you ’re interested in gravy holder last , check out this in - depth FAQ from Living Aboard .
Spruce Up Your Walls
OK , so this does n’t quite condition for “ alternative trapping ” , but it ’s still an alternate way to set about how a abode looks ! Green wall are becoming more and more pop , with companies popping up all over the country to aid you install living wall in your house .
I personally have a few wall in my own home covered in houseplant , succulents , and even some edible herbs , so I ’m 100 % on gameboard with the green wall life . It ’s a expectant way to impart some sustainability to a dwelling house if you ca n’t quite move to another housing option.
See more green bulwark pictures.
Grow Plants On Your Roof
In my hometown of San Diego , gullible roof are becoming big byplay . While most of the roofing labor in my area are more about xeriscaping and using little water , in other domain of the country there are water - capturing green roofs installed on rooftops across the metropolis .
Green roof not only attend awe-inspiring , but subjugate the ”urban heat island ” phenomenon that urban surroundings suffer from . The more you know …
Earth Berm
Earth shoulder , or Earth - shelter homes , are better make out as “ hobbit holes ” for some of you who are fans of Lord of the Rings . In essence , this type of housing involves using nature as one ( or more ) of the walls of your home .
In the painting above , these farm home in Keldur , Iceland are progress into a born hill and used as a way to shelter their owners from the component .
Use Earth Bags
Earthbags is just a fancy Holy Writ for sandbags , a basic of flood - prevention and emergency situation . But they can be put to even good employment as a in the buff ingredient in homebuilding .
It ’s potential to apply earthbags to construct an entire domicile due to their flexibleness and durability in the building process .
To learn more about building with earthbags , check out this rattling resource.
Cob Houses
Cob theatre have been around for century and hundreds of long time . It ’s an old - school building method that has experienced a resurgence in popularity as alternative lodging idea are becoming mainstream once again .
It ’s a simple-minded cognitive process that does n’t require a lot of equipment . Cob home are often small , minimalistic , rude , and local , satisfying a deep craving in some of us who bid for a return to simple times .
If you ’re interested in Cob housing , check out Alexander’sThis Cob Housewebsite.
Live in an RV
sure as shooting , living in an RV is n’t as glamorous or as impulsive as some of the other pick on this list , but it ’s quite practical and low-priced for most people . Sometimes it ’s not about living in melodic line with nature and it ’s more about plainly get somewhere hardheaded to log Z’s every night .
RVs tender a raft of location independence . As long as you may stand dwell in a small space with few amenities , RV life may be the perfect alternative housing option for you .
For a practical guide to convert an RV into a firm , check out this link.
Live in a Converted Bus
One step up from the RV lifestyle is to buy an old bus , rehabilitate it , and plunk it down on a lot and go there . There ’s a lot you could do with an old bus — there ’s a lot of real estate on the sides of it ! In the depiction above , they ’ve installed an actual door as well as some window box planter to add a genuinely homy feel .
For a face into the life history of someone actually living on a bus , check out this fantastic clause on Inhabitat.
Here is another great example of a bus conversion from ShalomMama.
Repurpose a Box Car
And for the final rise of converted fomite bread and butter : repurposing the ship’s galley of an old boxcar . In a lifestyle that hark back to The Boxcar Children serial ( one of my favorites growing up – you may determine it at Amazonhere ) , boxcar living is super - appealing to me .
You have more existent estate than a jitney or RV , and a flake more permanency as well — betting odds are you wo n’t want to move this house too often . It ’s kind of like living in a shipping container , but it has much more character!
Make a House Out of Glass Bottles
If recycling used materials is more your thing , you’re able to always consider making your total house out of methamphetamine bottles . No , I ’m not kidding — citizenry have done this !
Glass bottle trapping is surprisingly stable and springy , so if you could put up with the grind of in reality build the house , you could have a home that is extremely cheap and extremely working .
Join the Tiny House Revolution
The lilliputian sign movement is sweep the rural area . You know it ’s jumping the shark when there ’s an HGTV show ! That being enjoin , there ’s a draw of time value in conceive living in a tiny house .
you could often construct them for pennies compare to a normal nursing home , and most can be made portable to give you the ability to take your home on the road . If I build a home , you better believe that it ’ll be a petite home .
Check out the 13 + Best Tiny House Books .
Live in a Converted Silo
The inner farmer in me desperately wants to live in one of these homes . Not only do they calculate beautiful , they repurpose one of the honest-to-goodness land structure we have — the silo .
Most homes do n’t have a rotary layout , simply because it ’s annoying to work up and can be somewhat impractical . But by reprocess a silo and working it into your home ’s intention , you get a unique face while also making use of something that would have been torn down.
More silo home examples.
Create a Shipping Container Home
If silo family are a husbandry example of repurposed buildings , transportation containers are the everyman example . transport container construction is probably one of the biggest growing sectors of substitute housing in the United States today .
In fact , commercial-grade business enterprise possessor are generate on board as well . There are ship container bar , habiliment storage , and exhibits popping up all over the place .
build a shipping container home.
Shelter Carts for the Homeless
Now for a look at a very hard-nosed type of substitute lodging . For many stateless hoi polloi , their ‘ home ’ are the street . That ’s not much of a home , which is where tax shelter go-cart come into play .
These are radical - portable displace homes that can be pushed around the city for those that are homeless . Because many roofless people are already crusade around shopping cars or other transportable storage systems , the tax shelter cart is a rude next step.
Shelter pushcart screen background and more information.
Stylish and Simple Prefab Homes
Now we get to a more canonical and obvious instance : prefabricated homes . The market is exploding with unlike type of prefab housing , fill corner like light-green , minimalist , opulence , and more .
Most of us are concerned in unique housing selection but do n’t have the chops to build up them out ourselves . This is where prefab home base are the most valuable . you could often get them for much cheaper than a stock cut home .
Make a House Out of Plastic Bottles
The cousin to the methamphetamine nursing bottle home is the fictile bottle house . It ’s substantially easier to collect plastic bottle than it is to collect Methedrine , do this a more accessible build .
Plastic feeding bottle will command more support and insularism when equate to meth , but thankfully there are a ton of pioneers that have created moldable bottle homes to lead the way .
Here ’s a video recording of a hombre who made an ISLAND out of fictile bottles .
Build a House From Old Pallets
I ’ve verbalise aboutbuilding a palette gardenbefore , but this takes pallet to the next level . Pallets are just Sir Henry Joseph Wood , so if you collect enough of them it makes signified that you would be capable to make a home .
It might take ages to actually get the pallet , but if you may get hold a beneficial reference and have a DIY outlook , it ’s completely possible to create a abode purely out of pallets.
Live in an Outbuilding
outbuilding used to be more democratic than they are now , mostly because mess sizes were large back in the olden days . If you ’re stuck for a place to last , regard scoping out properties for old outbuilding that are n’t being used at all .
you may spill the beans to the landowner and incline them on you live in the outbuilding , perhaps in exchange for some landscaping work or handiwork around the attribute .
Modular Igloos?
When I first hear about this , I pictured a snowy climate . But modular igloos are actually a “ thing ” that subsist outside of the snow ! It ’s just a hyper - compact life space , usually intended for shorter - term tenting .
But I see no reason why you should n’t be able to live in a modular iglu for longer period of time , so long as you have a static piece of music of property to place it on .
Learn more about modular igloo .
Live in a Trailer
I do n’t think I ’m alone in wish that I could sell most of my matter , gimp a house trailer to my gondola , and just force off into the sundown . Well , turns out there are people who have done this and are lie with aliveness .
Trailer bread and butter is a huge alteration from home sustenance , but it ’s clearly figure out for some citizenry who are OK trading stableness for flexibility .
Check out the couple who live in a trailer and travel around .
Use Hempcrete to Make a House
Before you elevate your eyebrow , hempcrete is a real thing and it is a utilitarian building material . Hemp bear a raft of silicon oxide which makes it immingle with lime well .
You might say , “ Who care , just use concrete ! ” But hemp is a fantastic industrial harvest , with hundreds of use of goods and services . If hempcrete gained popularity as a building stuff , that may be enough to get hemp more widely farm in the United States .
Learn all about hempcrete.
Well , there you have it . A ton of alternative housing ideas — some more realizable than others . I made this tilt to serve as inspiration , so experience free to let us have intercourse if you ’ve tried any of these ideas yourself or have any to tote up that I ’ve missed !
