Five Home Design Lessons to Borrow from an Eco-Friendly Tiny Cabin
If the wastefulness of modern life becomes draining, nothing beats an escape to a tiny home for rejuvenation.
Tiny cabins have quickly become one of the hottest travel trends worldwide – and we can’t be more enthusiastic. Thanks to their small footprints, these micro cabins can fit almost anywhere – such as this Robinson Crusoe-themed one in the middle of lush rainforest oasis!
Company In2TheWild offers this 12-square metre tiny home on NSW’s Central Coast that packs quite the punch. Equipped with two gas burners for cooking, an adorable yet functional bathroom and a surprising large living area; plus its loft bedroom provides breathtaking sunrise views over treetops!
Staying here even briefly provides the perfect way to combat an environmental unfriendliness lifestyle. Reminiscent of small town living, it reminds one how to live sustainably in real life.
Here are five life lessons we took away from our stay at Robinson Crusoe’s tiny cabin.
1. Conserve Water WHEN LIVING in a home using tank water heated with gas bottles or powered by solar, you quickly become more aware of what it takes to create long, hot showers.
Eco-friendly tiny cabins produce some of the energy they use themselves.
Even without an actual water tank in your home, water conservation should always be on the top of mind. Fresh water supplies are a limited commodity.
If your home features a greywater tank (congratulations!), ensure you use shower and sink products from ecostore’s selection that are approved to use with greywater.
Greywater-compatible products are an absolute necessity if you own a rainwater tank.
2. Purchase Only What’s Needed
Sometimes just getting rid of everything can help us realize just how little was necessary at first.
Robinson Crusoe provided us with only what was essential for survival – yet still didn’t use all of it. Tiny living is an effective reminder to live simply.
Reducing clutter in a tiny home means finding something interesting to read.
Only a good book, some locally-sourced produce and plenty of tea were enough to sustain us on this trip. Try applying this same lo-fi approach at home by purchasing fresh local food; buy what you need (but only what is necessary!); if there’s too much left over simply cook and freeze what remains so none goes to waste!
Start a veggie garden! A fantastic way to reduce food waste is by growing your own. No longer must you waste money purchasing huge $7 bundles of basil when only need a handful of its leaves!
3. Reduce, Reuse and Repeat
Choosing reusable household products like BPA-free water bottles, cloth shopping bags and food containers that use less plastic is one surefire way to reduce single-use plastic usage in your home and reduce plastic pollution. Single-use items can end up in landfill (or the oceans), be energy intensive to produce and leave behind an enormous carbon footprint over their lifespan.
Reusable vessels can make life in a small cabin much simpler, but you can also start using them around your own home.
Wherever it’s unavoidable to purchase plastic, such as for personal care and cleaning products, opt for ecostore’s 100% recyclable plastic bottles made from renewable sugarcane husks which help create bioelectricity in their factory where sugar plastic production occurs.
4. Sort trash responsibly
Nothing beats getting back in touch with nature to remind us of the devastation caused by growing landfill.
At Robinson Crusoe, we brought all of our waste and recycling with us before waiting until it could be safely discarded. When at home, creating an effective system for sorting recycling won’t be such a bothersome endeavor.
If you have the space, invest in a composting bin. This will enable natural items like fruit, vegetables, coffee grounds and tea leaves to break down organically in an ecological manner and can then be used as fertiliser in your garden!
Nature should remain pure; let’s do our part to maintain that state.
5. Keep Less, Store Wisely
We all accumulate clutter. Be it out of laziness or sentimentality, these unwanted items occupying our homes aren’t doing anyone any favors and should be released to make room for things we actually use or need.
Tiny homes teach us to only keep what is necessary, so why not apply this principle at home? Why not sell or donate what is no longer used but could benefit others, while responsibly disposing of broken hardware, furniture, or electrical items at your local recycling centre?
Smart storage solutions such as the Robinson Crusoe Tiny Cabin with stairs provide space for essentials.
The Robinson Crusoe design features efficient storage solutions like its under-stair cabinets to maximize limited space. Once you’ve decluttered, search your own home for similar hidden storage areas – under beds, underneath stairs or on walls could all provide opportunities to stash essential items safely away.
