Why Tiny Houses are Good for You and the Earth’s Health

Since the Tiny House Movement began people have debated whether or no they could live tiny. Some try it and hate it and others swear they will live tiny for the rest of their lives. Yet the common question we seem to always get when talking about tiny is why do you want to live or build a tiny house? Well here is the reasons why we’re going tiny and why tiny is good for not only your health, but also the health of the environment too.

Let’s start with a few facts.

Tiny house are commonly between 100-400 square feet in size, with most sitting between the 250-350 square foot mark. That being said a tiny or small house can be classified up as such up to 1000 square feet.

Tiny houses use less resources. Tiny house uses anywhere from one tenth (1/10th) to one quarter (1/4) of the water, electricity, gas and building materials than a traditional modern (2018) house.

Tiny houses cost less. On average a tiny house costs about the price of a brand new car, around $30,000, which is equivalent to a 10% downpayment on a $800,000 home. Tiny house have been built for as little as $5,000 and as high as $120,000 plus. It just depends on your needs and wants.

Now let’s dig a little deeper. Tiny house can create….

Freedom and Flexibility

Buy choosing to live Tiny and a minimal lifestyle gives you the chance for some freedom and flexibility. If choosing to build your tiny house a a trailer foundation, this means you can travel with your home wherever you go and whenever you want to go. This also means that in advance warning of natural disasters, the house can be evacuated with your family-how awesome is that?!? Freedom and flexibility also ties into the following as well.

Option to live debt free

This is a big one for most people. The ability to live debt free. the ability to own a homeroom day one without a mortgage (some choose to finance via a loan for their tiny houses). The ability to use what could have been allocated for rent or mortgage payments to pay off debits. The ability be less consumeristic, thus having more savings. This is also huge for the environment by becoming less of a consumer and more of a minimalist. The ability to over all lessen financial burdens is huge in living tiny.

Time

Tiny houses give you back your time. The time you would spend cleaning or maintaining your house is cut by at least half in a tiny home. The time you have to spend working to earn an income to pay the bills. Gain more time to spend with family, friends and doing the things that interest you the most.

Happiness/Contentment

By gaining back time, financial control and freedom flexibility, one becomes happier and more content. This is a common feedback from those living in tiny houses, that they are much happier. Something about living tiny seems to health with one’s health health.

Foster Relations and community

Tiny houses do not have all the walls and blocks that a traditional house has to hide ourselves behind. And more importantly now with the rise of technology, electric devices and social media than ever do we as humans need to foster our relationship not just with each other, but with all biodiversity on this planet and with that I digress. Reportedly tiny houses bring families to communicate more efficiently with the open space tiny house have and few doors able to be slammed in an argument. And with their size and for reason listed above the time gained to spend with your family and friends greatly improves the relationship typically. Strengthening family and friend relationship is not the only relationship tiny houses improve. Tiny house also improve the relationship between community. There’s this amazing sense of a community and family that comes with joining the Tiny House Movement, as well as being able to help others (your community) by choosing tiny that help strengthen the communal bond.

The ability to follow dreams, passions & help others

Tiny houses enable people to follow their dreams, passions and have a greater ability to help others. By having a house that you own with less bills to pay and more time on your hands from not needing to make as much of a salary to live, it opens up ones world to many possibilities. Many Tiny housers have began their own businesses or started taking up long awaited/ lost passions and hobbies by going tiny. There is also typically more time and resource to help others around you in many ways once living tiny, which ties into strengthening community relationships. Just think of all the possibilities!

Healthy living/ lifestyle

Overall living tiny supports a health living and lifestyle. There’s the option to have more time to grow your own food in a garden and cook healthy meals at home, supporting a healthier diet. Being supported emotionally and mentally with the lack of stress and the gain of more time and doing things that interests you tends to support a healthier living as well.

These are just a few things living tiny creates. How it makes the earth healthier? We use less of the earth’s resources, we waste less, we destroy less and we become more eco effective by living tiny. And by living eco effectively we health create and maintain a happy and healthy earth.

We (H&F) see how tiny houses could be a partial solution for:

Battling climate change including the change in biodiversity and extinction. The ability to sustain life.

Affordable housing and ending homelessness

Depression and other health care concerns, including lowering health care costs.

So in summary to answer the question, “why do we want to live or build a tiny house”, the reason is we have chosen to build a tiny (house) lifestyle, for overall health of ourselves, for the earth and for the ability to sustain all life for generations to come.

Can you see how living tiny could be healthier for you and the earth?