I can’t remember when or how it was exactly, but Annabel asked us earlier to provide some thoughts on what we wanted the community to be and I sent her a long pdf file describing who I was and what I was looking for in a tiny house community. Most of the answers of this new questionnaire that Annabel has started have been taken from that document. That is why my answers are so long. I also thought it would be easier to read if I posted it as a link to a webpage.
I’m Middle aged. I have a college aged son who does not think living in a tiny house ecovillage is something he wants to do, so it will be just me with him maybe visiting occasionally. I am a happily single heterosexual male with no real desire to change that status, so my household will most likely not grow.
I am designing my own 24’ tiny house on wheels and will most likely be building it myself in my existing back yard using a combination of store bought and reclaimed items. My tiny house will have a composting toilet, and a combination of propane and electric powered appliances. It will also have a small efficient wood burning stove to supplement heating. I envision reusing my grey water and “other water” (urine) to water and feed plants. A solar electric system is something that I would like to utilize and is considered in the design of my tiny house. I would like to transport my tiny house, when complete, to a welcoming tiny house community.
I am a Self-employed Architectural Designer and part time abstract artist. My goal is to be a full time abstract artist during part of the year and a long distance backpacker during the other part of the year. I would like to find a community that would allow me to do those things. One of the challenges will be creating or finding a space nearby where I can do my art. The space will need to be suitable for working on large canvas paintings.
I’m striving for a life that is simple, healthy, giving, lacking distress, full of joy and laughter …
I think I can accomplish this by working on those basic goals that I mentioned above, minimizing my possessions and expenses, living in a tiny house, joining a sharing community, and surrounding myself with progressive, thoughtful, caring people who like to laugh.
In a nutshell, the community I envision would consist of members that own their own tiny home (or rent another member’s home). I imagine artistically crafted and charming tiny homes that have been created by each member and reflect their own personalities, but also homes that when placed in a group, enhance the charm of the community. Each home would have its own small plot of land, but also share a common “central” space. The homes would be in clusters. Ideally, the clustered houses would be within somewhat close proximity to each other and the “front” of the house would face toward the common space. Foot paths would loop around the common spaces and connect to each of the houses and community building(s) and spaces. Ideally, Parking of automobiles would be in special areas on the outside perimeter of the community. Exceptions could be made for people with special needs. The community would consist of people with shared progressive values, a sense of sustainability for the environment, a sense of healthy living, and sharing. The community would have shared amenities such as community gardens, a common house, etc. Each community member or family would provide their own source of income for personal needs and their share of the community expenses. Members would be compensated for certain tasks performed for the community. I see the community as more or less an extension of my family. I would get to know the details of all the members’ lives and hopefully become close friends with them, even to the extent of working, playing, crying with and caring for each other.
There are several things that interest me, that I am passionate about, and that I dream of finding in and sharing with a community. These include progressive values, living sustainably, living a simpler more minimalistic and less materialistic life, living closer to nature, living healthy , living on less money, paying forward, sharing culture, music, food, and art.
Are there one or two things that are specific to me? I’m not sure. I don’t see myself leading yoga or teaching organic gardening. Like I mentioned earlier, I am a Self-employed Architectural Designer, part time abstract artist and an avid backpacker. I’m not sure how they would benefit the community, but those are my main interests and passions that I would be bringing. Hopefully my architectural design and artistic skills will benefit in the formation of the community. If there is an interest, perhaps I could lead some backpacking or hiking adventures or provide some art sessions.
I am not vegan or vegetarian, but I do eat a mostly vegetarian diet. I have many close friends that are vegan or vegetarian and I have participated in vegan/vegetarian pot luck dinners that were wonderful. I very rarely buy any type of beef to cook (maybe a couple times a year). And even though pork is my favorite type of meat, I very seldom buy it. I do, however, eat chicken, fish and eggs, not every day, but probably several times a week. I strive to eat and live healthy including organically when possible. Although I probably would not want to raise any myself, I personally would not be averse to allowing community members to raise some farm animals in the community. I’m not sure I would feel comfortable being the only omnivore in the community, so it is good that Annabel has raised this question so we have an idea of how other prospective members feel about the subject. Earthaven Ecovillage, which has both vegan/vegetarian and omnivore members, and where members are raising farm animals, may be a model for us to look at.
Let me first describe how I see myself and the type of community atmosphere that I would like to be in : I am a fairly quiet person and typically pretty patient and often non-confrontational with sensitive subjects including the biggies like religion and politics. That being said, I would love to find a community that has a social structure that shares some of my own values. I am not religious. I have my own views on religion & mythology and their values in people’s lives, but I pretty much keep these thoughts to myself in what I believe is a healthy non-discourse. I tolerate some outward “spirituality”, but prefer it when people are not so outward with it. Politically, I am pretty progressive, but I am not a political activist. I value a world of non-discrimination and fairness for all people and respect for the earth. I love humor. I’m not the person constantly making people laugh with a funny quip or story, but I have my moments. I’m more often one participating in the laughter and I think this laughter is one of the best forms of medicine. I highly value the person in the community with the ability to make me and others laugh. I think that I am a responsible and respectful person looking out for the health and happiness of others and pulling my own weight. I am not a workaholic, though, and enjoy times of leisure. Whether or not these personal characteristics would benefit this community I cannot answer, but if they do than it is probably a good community for me. I truly cannot think of a weakness that is worth sharing. I no doubt have plenty, but to throw one out just for the sake of listing one doesn’t seem right to me. Maybe I’ll come up with one later.
Equal decision making power amongst members sounds great. How that actually will work, I have little clue, but there are some working models out there such as Earthaven Ecovillage and Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. Dancing Rabbit bases their system on the book: Building United Judgment . Earthhaven used a form of consensus-with-unanimity which required 100% agreement and didn’t work, so they recently have changed to a new form. I’m sure there are other models as well that we could look at.
As I mentioned earlier, I am currently an Architectural Designer. My goal is to be a full time abstract artist during part of the year and a long distance backpacker during the other part of the year. I might decide to find new architectural design clients in the surrounding communities to supplement my art income as well. I might also be interested in making some additional income working for the community or participating in some community work for compensation if it is available and is some form of work that appeals me. Renting my home while I am away backpacking or traveling is something else I might be interested in doing.
Sorry to sound pessimistic, but I can’t imagine there being a large surplus of money that we are going have. In fact, I envision us having a hard time raising the money and deciding on what projects have priority for bettering our community. There are, however, plenty of things that we could do to give back to the surrounding communities such as providing a venue for craft shows, fairs, festivals, or farmers market. We could provide internship study programs, workshops, and/or camps. We could get involved in our neighboring community organizations. Some of these may be additional forms of income for our community while at the same time providing a service. I’m not sure if we would be close enough, but one idea that I think would be cool, if we are close enough, is to provide a hostel and/or camp ground space with shuttle service to AT thru hikers. And if we had a surplus of money, we could be trail angels by providing free snacks and cold drinks at the nearest trail head for thru hikers. Something like this, I would think, would be a good way to promote our community. Another thing to think about is having a rainy day fund in case the community or a community member needs help financially due to some unforeseen disaster or hardship.
I am planning on having a composting toilet in my tiny house. I believe most tiny houses do. I also was planning on my grey water and “other water” (urine) to be used to water and nourish plants. Human urine is almost always sterile and is a good plant fertilizer. In the rare cases when it isn’t sterile, urine is generally still fine for personal use, or can be stored for several months to minimize pathogen risk. Humanure is a bit trickier, but I believe it can be safe for garden plants if done right. For those still doubtful, Humanure (that is carefully processed) can also be used strictly on non-garden plants, such as ornamental trees, shrubs and other plants that we don’t get our food from. That being said, the state of New York and the local municipalities may have regulations preventing or restricting the use of these systems.
I had provided Annabel with this outline in the document I sent her earlier and I think this is probably a good question to use it on. The following outlines how I envision the structure of a tiny house community that I would like to live in:
Also, I love wine and beer and think it would be very cool to have someone brewing beer or making wine. My family used to own a vineyard and belonged to a wine cooperative. Unfortunately, I have little knowledge of or desire any more, but I think it would be really cool if someone else in the community wanted to take this on … I would even help.
I mentioned twice already that I am a Self-employed Architectural Designer, part time abstract artist and an avid backpacker and hopefully my architectural design and artistic skills will benefit in the formation of the community and that, if there is an interest, perhaps I could lead some backpacking or hiking adventures or provide some art sessions.
Other interests and skills that I can contribute to the community include: experience remodeling my own home as well as landscaping type yard work. I also have home repair and remodeling tools that I can contribute to the community. I have not done a lot of gardening recently, but have done some in the past and I do have some gardening tools that I can contribute to the community. I have an interest in doing and learning more about organic and permaculture gardening. I have experience with web design and development and quite a bit of other computer programing type experience that I could contribute to a community web presence if that is something that we decide would be beneficial. I am a decent cook and would enjoy participating in group meals. I am also an amateur acoustic guitarist and can envision getting together for some impromptu jam sessions around the fire pit.
I guess I play it by ear and figure out the right way to respond. It could be a combination of any of the above. I have been noted from people that I am patient and even-keeled. I do not lash out, have fits of expressive anger , get into heated arguments, hold grudges and try to get back at someone, etc. If a situation gets overwhelming, I tend to want to leave the situation until I/we can find a way back to resolve the issue. I really want everyone to feel comfortable and be happy, that’s the ultimate goal.
I think it is important that the people of this world, especially us privileged folks in the United States and other wealthy nations, learn to live and be happy with less and strive to make the world a fair and safe place for all people. By creating a tiny house ecovillage we are paving the way and hopefully can show others that we don’t have to consume all of the world’s natural resources, pollute the environment, and continue unfair and violent practices around the world, to live fruitful happy lives. For me it is not just the peace of mind that I am doing the right thing, but that I truly believe my life will be happier.
I included this question because I had provided Annabel with the following, I guess you could call them pet peeves, in the document that I gave her and there were no other questions to place them in:
I do not have pets and would prefer not to have barking and pooping dogs right next to where I live. That being said, I tend to look kindly on friendly dogs when I cross paths with them. I would like the community to have some guidelines/rules for keeping pets. I’m actually more of a dog person then a cat person. I don’t plan on keeping either.
I am not a smoker and would prefer a community that realized that smoking is not healthy. I would prefer that our community be non-smoking. I do not smoke pot, but I would if it was legal, healthy, and would help me sleep at night [humor]. I do not have a problem with other people smoking pot as long as they do it in a way that is respectful of others.
Lastly, I mentioned earlier that I am not a religious person. I don't really like titles, but I kind of think of myself as an agnostic atheist - a person that pretty much doubts the existence of any super natural "intelligent being" influencing our lives, but I am not going to claim it is impossible. I usually don't share this with people and prefer to keep my beliefs to myself, but I think that since I am looking for a community where I want to feel comfortable, I should share this much of myself. I believe this world would be better off without some of the mainstream religious systems and wish we would evolve into a more rational morality that is not governed by outdated doctrines. I know there are decent people that do not share my perspective and I am perfectly fine with that. I think everyone has to follow there own moral compass. I think there is plenty of common ground for people with different perspectives to live happily together. It is my hope, however, that I will find a community, hopefully this one, where the common ground is very large. I would hope that community members would not assume that their spiritual or religious beliefs are shared by all and would be sensitive and respectful to those who do not share their beliefs.