I’ve been perusing the change.org website, where the top 10 voted ideas will be presented to the Obama administration on inauguration day. Here is my list of policy changes for the new prez.
Build Smaller Houses
Abolish minimum size standards in municipal housing code. If some people want to live simply in a house the size a walk-in closet, let them!
Grow Food in the Yard
Allow people to grow gardens on their lots. Don’t outlaw it — make it socially acceptable and rewarding!
Compost Our Poo
There are so many toilet alternatives and options for composting our waste. Why is it illegal if some people want to conserve our drinking water in this way?
Hang the Laundry
Homeowners: stop banning clotheslines in your neighborhood. Let’s not all be forced to buy a dryer if we would prefer to use the power of the sun to dry our clothes.
Mostly what it comes down to is: don’t make it hard for people like me who want to live simply and reduce their carbon footprint do the things they want to do. What are your thoughts?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I would LOVE to raise more of our own food, but you have to overcome these frappin’ homeowners associations! We have a 25′x17′ garden in our backyard. Wouldn’t be allowed in our front yard because that wouldn’t conform to the lawn REQUIREMENT. Trying to wheedle in chickens this spring…wonder if the neighbors whose barking dogs ARE allowed will complain…probably.
Wow, that’s a good sized garden. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and keep us updated on your chicken situation!
I couldn’t agree more… a neighbor just got two hens in a coop in her backyard and is starting an urban agriculture group. Or trying to, anyway, the first meeting has been put off several times for holidays.
I’m always amazed that no one wonders about the health impact of putting sewage into the water system.
If you have the time, could you expand upon the ‘minimum size standards in municipal housing code’ that we endure?
I’m been looking through my notes, bookmarks and such for a couple weeks now and can’t find my facts! Either way, thank you and thank you for your blog and the inspiration you bring.
Hi DJ and Lynne, welcome to my little blog. Sure, I’ll write more about minimum size standards in my next post. Thanks!
Human wast alternatives should be studied by the user before you go for it. I am all for composting toilets and other methods but they are baned here in california because of worms that hibernate when you try to kill them. Some funky stuff.
For a state like California facing drought, composting toilets are a great water-saving solution. There’s obviously a mountain-sized challenge of educating the public, however.
This is a good base list of change. We are getting ready to hitch up VardoForTwo our wee home on wheels, and hanging laundry is right up there as our drier of choice. Washing with chem-free laundry product (ie. baking soda or no fragrance soaps) and air drying is gentle to the earth and me stuff. I live with multiple chemical sensitivities, so LESS is always BEST. We’re heading to the woods with friends who will be the mother ship. A shared garden space between us is a goal for 2009. We’ve a PETT (portable environmental toilet) which we’ll work into the scheme of things once we’re in the woods.
@Jen : Oh, the barking dogs … yuK. neighborhood covenants are really in need of a remodel, part of the mountain of educating that needs to be done.
TTH… thanks for this forum it helps spark the faith I need to keep on …
We are looking into buying rural property so there are less restrictions. We don’t want to live like “white trash” as some people call it, and we are not “hippies”, but I am happy to embrace some resource saving measures. Growing your own food, composting, and using fewer materials (or the more earth friendly kind) to build housing is awesome, since these activities work hand in hand with our earth’s preservation AND save money. I think that restrictions on these “green” activities should be done away with, but it needs to be federally mandated and not from county to county or based on what state you live in. People need to wake up and downsize!
Is there an easy way to search for properties that don’t have minimum housing requirements. I’d love to have these redicoulous laws changed. Is there an “movement” anywhere someone is working on?
Hi Judy,
Minimum size standards are at the local level. So the first step is finding a locale (like the City of Portland) that is friendly to tiny houses.