Last week I talked about how to live simply and decrease your carbon footprint living in a tiny house. Even better than buying a tiny house is making your own, and Michael Janzen is blazing a trail with his free tiny pallet house. Not only is his house made out of recycled shipping pallets, it isn’t costing him anything to build. And lucky for us, he’s sharing his plans so you too can build your own tiny free house.
You can save money, sharpen your DIY skills, and further decrease your environmental impact by following Janzen’s example of building a free pallet house.
Keep pallets out of landfills
Here are some disturbing statistics about shipping pallets:
- Approximately 40% of all hardwood harvested in the U.S. is for making shipping pallets
- About two-thirds of pallets are used only once before being thrown out
- 1/4 of all wood in landfills is from used pallets
You can help prevent deforestation and keep pallets out of landfills by finding creative alternative uses for them, like building a house. Pallets can be found everywhere. Once you start looking for them, you’ll see them scattered all over your town or city.
Contact a local warehouse, supermarket, or any business that receives large shipments, and get permission to pick up their used pallets. Most companies are happy to give their pallets away.
Plans for a free pallet house
Janzen has made plans for building a free pallet house available on his website. These plans are a guide for building what he calls a disaster preparedness and emergency shelter. Janzen says:
As hurricane Gustav plowed across Cuba headed for the gulf coast of the United States memories of Katrina and the potential displacement of thousands got me thinking. I wanted to do something to help. It occurred to me that someone else might find what I now about building with shipping pallets useful in the coming weeks and months.
With some creativity, you may find that shipping pallets can be reappropriated in other ways to build your own free tiny house. For example, I have a friend that has disassembled shipping pallets and used the wood to build roof trusses for his straw bale building.
Ultimately, you can help prevent deforestation and keep pallets out of landfills by using them to build creative housing.
Think tiny and free!
(Image credit: flickr via KGBKitchen)
How very cool!
THANK YOU
How very cool!
THANK YOU
WTG!!! This boy is wonderful!
WTG!!! This boy is wonderful!
It just show you what you can do with reuseable items. But very creative!!!
It just show you what you can do with reuseable items. But very creative!!!
I applaud this little boys creativity and concern and hardwork. However, homeless people don’t need our trash; they need comfortable, functional homes that have running water and furniture and heat. Affordable housing for all!
The problem I have with this is that he did not use trash to build this shelter. If the project was to repurpose trash, you should not buy materials new and then say that it is trash. His so called invention, looks like newly bought “trash”.
I applaud this little boys creativity and concern and hardwork. However, homeless people don’t need our trash; they need comfortable, functional homes that have running water and furniture and heat. Affordable housing for all!
that is cooooooooooooool
what an inspiring kid! way to go!!!
that is cooooooooooooool
what an inspiring kid! way to go!!!
What an upstanding kid his parents should be proud,I hope he goes on to do great things. The world needs more people like this, I hope my kids turn out like this GO MAX!!!
What an upstanding kid his parents should be proud,I hope he goes on to do great things. The world needs more people like this, I hope my kids turn out like this GO MAX!!!
Is this suppossed to the the solution for homelessness? This is hardly better than a cardboard box and I’m sure the government will be spending big $$$ to manufacture these things that are a weak solution at best. They can probably open up real shelters somewhere with the same money it would take to start this new program. The kid is smart and very ahead of the game, but I don’t think styrofoam tents are the solution here.
Is this suppossed to the the solution for homelessness? This is hardly better than a cardboard box and I’m sure the government will be spending big $$$ to manufacture these things that are a weak solution at best. They can probably open up real shelters somewhere with the same money it would take to start this new program. The kid is smart and very ahead of the game, but I don’t think styrofoam tents are the solution here.
I applaud this boys creativity, hard work and concern for others-truly refreshing. However, homeless people do not need just our trash; they need functional and comfortable homes with running water and heat and furniture (of course using as many recycled items as possible).
Maybe instead of the title of the article calling this a homeless shelter it should be renamed a “Temporary Emergency Dome” or something of the like. Affordable Green Housing For All!
THIS KID IS AWESOME!!! Very proud of him!! It’s great to see young minds inventing helpful products!! America just might be in good hands after all!! God bless
To call this a trash house is ridiculous. Trash is what you can not reuse. The plastics and frame of this house can not be made from reused materials. I applaud this young man’s inginuety to discover a low cost form of emergency shelter. Versions of this could be deployed for emergencies all over the world. Alternatives for insulation, or even just air could be used in the panels for easier transport. This would be similar to another recent invention of an inflatable shelter, but the design here is better.
LOL has anyone thought of making sure it resists weather or rain? It looks like there was gaps in the sections which would allow wind & water in still for a 12 year old i’m impressed.
I applaud this boys creativity, hard work and concern for others-truly refreshing. However, homeless people do not need just our trash; they need functional and comfortable homes with running water and heat and furniture (of course using as many recycled items as possible).
Maybe instead of the title of the article calling this a homeless shelter it should be renamed a “Temporary Emergency Dome” or something of the like. Affordable Green Housing For All!
THIS KID IS AWESOME!!! Very proud of him!! It’s great to see young minds inventing helpful products!! America just might be in good hands after all!! God bless
To call this a trash house is ridiculous. Trash is what you can not reuse. The plastics and frame of this house can not be made from reused materials. I applaud this young man’s inginuety to discover a low cost form of emergency shelter. Versions of this could be deployed for emergencies all over the world. Alternatives for insulation, or even just air could be used in the panels for easier transport. This would be similar to another recent invention of an inflatable shelter, but the design here is better.
LOL has anyone thought of making sure it resists weather or rain? It looks like there was gaps in the sections which would allow wind & water in still for a 12 year old i’m impressed.
This is very cool and a very young bright kid. Keep up the good work kid and I hope your idea sells in this open market.
This is very cool and a very young bright kid. Keep up the good work kid and I hope your idea sells in this open market.
OMG…..This is what America is about!!! Can more teens use their brains on issues such as these. I am proud of this young guy and his parents. They should all be commented on their son’s heart and his capabilities. It is kids like this that makes me have hope that the kids are our future! Much Success to you young man in the future!!~ EC
OMG…..This is what America is about!!! Can more teens use their brains on issues such as these. I am proud of this young guy and his parents. They should all be commented on their son’s heart and his capabilities. It is kids like this that makes me have hope that the kids are our future! Much Success to you young man in the future!!~ EC
A very practical application of his invention could be to package plastic encased packaging refuse into rolls. The rolls could then be quickly deployed as emergency temporary shelters for war and disaster refugees.
A very practical application of his invention could be to package plastic encased packaging refuse into rolls. The rolls could then be quickly deployed as emergency temporary shelters for war and disaster refugees.
There is nothing new about this. It’s a geodesic dome invented over 50 years ago, made from packing peanuts.
That is so cool:) i am his age and i would of never thought of that!! that is amazing…i want to make one of my on…hehehe
There is nothing new about this. It’s a geodesic dome invented over 50 years ago, made from packing peanuts.
That is so cool:) i am his age and i would of never thought of that!! that is amazing…i want to make one of my on…hehehe
What kind of reinforcement is there to protect against wind? It looks like it could pretty much just blow away!
Great invention though.
hey this is nice hehehe a plastic igloo hehe
a 12 year old kid can make a shelter out of garbage and thousands of homeless bums are still begging for money on expressway ramps. just goes to show that some people just chose thier own destiny. what a joke, maybe obama will buy every bum a house with my money.
This is awesome! Nice job Max!!
What kind of reinforcement is there to protect against wind? It looks like it could pretty much just blow away!
Great invention though.
am sure the kid is really bright, but what a greenie/liberal shot at helping the homeless, with complete disregard for consequences. what happens when one of the cells breaks? can you say litter? hand these out to the homeless and you’ll have nothing but a huge mess. however, with BO in office, we all may be living in this type of structure shortly!
hey this is nice hehehe a plastic igloo hehe
a 12 year old kid can make a shelter out of garbage and thousands of homeless bums are still begging for money on expressway ramps. just goes to show that some people just chose thier own destiny. what a joke, maybe obama will buy every bum a house with my money.
This is awesome! Nice job Max!!
I thought of this same idea a couple months ago, they are practicaly prebuilt wallas,its a great idea
I thought of this same idea a couple months ago, they are practicaly prebuilt wallas,its a great idea
This kid is the new Tony Stark
I think this boy has a good heart.
This boy IS a breathe of fresh air!!! Not to mention warming of the heart! Awesome! This is great! I can not stress enough how seriously wonderful Max & his invention is!
Loved it!!