Build Your Own Free Tiny House with Shipping Pallets
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
WTG!!! This boy is wonderful!
It just show you what you can do with reuseable items. But very creative!!!
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!!!
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.
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!