"Bigger isn't necessarily better, especially when you want to live sustainably. At least that's what these small home enthusiasts live by. Giving up the luxury of space, tiny-home owners and builders opt instead for a more eco-friendly, less resource intense way of living. By building homes with high ceilings and planting them in open spaces, they still maintain the illusion of space around them. These homeowners are using less heat, electricity and raw materials -- and they might just make you reconsider how important space really is to you. What do you think-- could you live in a 10 by 10 foot space?"
What do you think about these small houses? How would the alter / modify a person's behavior that lived there? What kind of changes might a person go through living in a small home?
These houses are so tiny I could not imagine actually living in them. An 84 square foot house would be like the size of my bedroom! The owners of these houses all have good motives for downsizing, but I think they are missing out on other amenities that bigger homes can offer. For instance, Dee Williams is not able to shower in her own home and has to rely on showering at work or at friends' houses. Like Williams said, living in a small home does not allow her to have friends over and socialize. Living in small homes of these sizes would reduce the luxury of having company over or possibly exercising in your own home. If you had children or a small family this would also be especially difficult to adjust and learn to share a limited amount of space.
I like the idea that these homes are environmentally friendly but I don't think I would ever be able to change my life style to live in such a small home. Granted I did live in a dorm room for several years but none of that space was dedicated to a bathroom or kitchen all I had was a bed, desk, futon and a sink and that about filled the room up. I think it would be fun to stay in one for a weekend or even a week to see what it is like, or maybe even have one as a vacation home, but to live full time in such a small space I don't think I would last long.
As much as I would love to be able to say that I could live in a home like this to help the environment I can't because I know it would be a lie. Some of these people seem extremely dedicated to living a simpler lifestyle but in doing so make other parts of life harder (like having to find a place to shower). I downsized a couple years ago from a 4 bedroom house to a trailer and I still struggle with not having enough room for my belongings, so I can't imagine loosing another 600-700 square feet. I applaud those who can live this kind of lifestyle but it definitely isn't for everyone.
While these examples of eco-friendly homes use less resources and in the long run, prove to be much better for the environment, in some selfish way, it is hard to imagine myself giving up certain luxuries and greatly reducing my living space to such a tiny home. People living in homes like these would need to alter or modify their behaviors to become more practical in their overall ways of living and would need to downsize their belongings and personal items. The ideas of space would modify behavior because people would need to adjust to a much smaller environment. One room might be multi-functional to serve not only as a living room, but also a bedroom, or the kitchen may also function as a laundry room. Living in small homes, reduces the luxuries and enjoyment of social life because it would be difficult to have company over. However, these homes are multi-faceted in their benefits because they are not only better for the environment, but people may also be better situated financially with less debt and mortgage responsibility as the cost of living would be much lower.
This is a pretty interesting concept within our eco-friendly friendly world. For the lady in the little house on the trailor, the rewards must outweigh the punishments. The punishments and modification of behaviors for most people I think would be too much. Personally, the surrounding environment would play a major role in my ability to live in a place like that. The way she has it set up, it looks as if she is still in the center of a town or subdivision. If the house was set up in the woodlands or a pasture, I think it would be much more appealing. Even though she saves money in the long run and helps protect our natural environment, the inability to have a social life would be the ultimate negativity. Not being able to have a party for the football game or to just hang out would be difficult. Humans are very social creatures and social health is a major behavioral area in which we must meet our needs. I'm sure some people have the personality constructs to endure this style of living, but the spatial limits would be hard for me to handle, especially with another person in the house. Of the examples shown on the link, I would definitely choose the Woodland home in Wales...it actually does look pretty sweet and would be fun to try and live within nature like that for a short period of time.
The house, serving as an antecedent, would definitely elicit more environmentally and practical ways of living. A lifestyle full of excessive materials and/or food (a lifestyle most of us live today) would definitely be hindered. One's behavior would definitely be altered as one would be more focused on meeting the basic needs of life and not necessarily other "needs" like television, stereo systems, freezers, dishwashers, etc. As a consequence, one would live a much simpler and perhaps healthier lifestyle. Alternatively, one may fall into the habit of becoming antisocial within such a small household.
I found this article really interesting. Environmentally, these houses are a great idea, but socially and psychology they may not serve a very good purpose. The small homes could serve as an Antecedent. The behavior could be a better sense of being environmentally conscious, which would cut down on electricity and other expensive bills. This could also go the other way as well. The home serving as an antecedent could lead to a antisocial behavior which would elicit a deep depression consequence possibly. I feel as though I could live in one of these homes but I would need a real bed. Claustrophobia could develop over time if you lived in such a small and confined space for so long.