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)
That’s great! Way to go. I hope to see these everywhere. Small, cheap, mobile and easy to assemble and store; what more could you want.
That kid gives me confidence in the next generation.
you made something that is useless
yeah ,nothing in this world can be regards as waste as one of the saying said; someone ignorance is somebody enlightment. so i congratulate the creativity mind people who make use of their God given talent ,skill to spend time to venture into such activities rather than stay idol(doing nothing)i for cast more on developing country as iam from Solomon islands and i see many waste stuff but not many creative/innovate people.people seem to live on spoon feed.so i really appreciate this as it my first time to browse this site.Congratulation it is what all can engage in each individual life whatever you can do ,thanks
i think you’re making news out of nothing
Great job Max, thats an amazing mind on a very promising young man. And it looks like the Bubble Shield from Halo. Keep working for mankind Max!
Great job Max, thats an amazing mind on a very promising young man. And it looks like the Bubble Shield from Halo. Keep working for mankind Max!
Great job Max, thats an amazing mind on a very promising young man. And it looks like the Bubble Shield from Halo. Keep working for mankind Max!
Well the way this economy is going… we all may need one of those lol..
Well the way this economy is going… we all may need one of those lol..
Well the way this economy is going… we all may need one of those lol..
Reminds me of the old Laugh-In joke about a building being made from garbage. Dan Rowan explains it attracted 3,000 people to the open house and three million flies.
Reminds me of the old Laugh-In joke about a building being made from garbage. Dan Rowan explains it attracted 3,000 people to the open house and three million flies.
i think this was a great idea! your helping people with nothing and it is a wonderful thing! great work!
i think this was a great idea! your helping people with nothing and it is a wonderful thing! great work!
Great Job! Just Remember later in life, when Your famous…….You Said “I don’t really care about the money. I care about helping people.”…….
This reminded me of THOMAS
Great Job! Just Remember later in life, when Your famous…….You Said “I don’t really care about the money. I care about helping people.”…….
This reminded me of THOMAS
He will end up smoking herb in college and get around the 300 pound mark with a degree in liberal arts.
Ummm….Ok he said it was made from trash but from the looks of it, it’s material that you can buy from the store. Max you should give the money to a certified shelter. Oh and next time use real trash.
He will end up smoking herb in college and get around the 300 pound mark with a degree in liberal arts.
Ummm….Ok he said it was made from trash but from the looks of it, it’s material that you can buy from the store. Max you should give the money to a certified shelter. Oh and next time use real trash.
This boy is quite the inventor! Kudos to him, and at 12yrs old he deserves a pat on the back!
This boy is quite the inventor! Kudos to him, and at 12yrs old he deserves a pat on the back!
This child should be celebrated. His parents should be congratulated for raising such a self-less child. If only some organization would take his idea and make it available to all of those in need of it. If everyone in this country could be as responsible and self-less as Max, then we would all be so much better off. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
It was very interesting how he came up with this idea. Way to go! Keep it up! Never ever give up! You have a bright future ahead of you Max.
This child should be celebrated. His parents should be congratulated for raising such a self-less child. If only some organization would take his idea and make it available to all of those in need of it. If everyone in this country could be as responsible and self-less as Max, then we would all be so much better off. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
It was very interesting how he came up with this idea. Way to go! Keep it up! Never ever give up! You have a bright future ahead of you Max.
THIS IS AMSOME IDEA SMILE!!
For such a young boy to go beyond thinking and come up with a solution and not just “step” over the homeless or throw them a quarter or something is fantastic. This kid deserves a medal for having a consious, just for caring. He has certainly made me think twice about how little I do as an individual about such a serious issue in our “civilized” society.
Darrell
We had a great time hosting Max in our studio and wish him the best of luck!
- The Continuum Team
THIS IS AMSOME IDEA SMILE!!
For such a young boy to go beyond thinking and come up with a solution and not just “step” over the homeless or throw them a quarter or something is fantastic. This kid deserves a medal for having a consious, just for caring. He has certainly made me think twice about how little I do as an individual about such a serious issue in our “civilized” society.
Darrell
We had a great time hosting Max in our studio and wish him the best of luck!
- The Continuum Team
Is it warm?
Is it warm?
I am impressed the brilliant intelect it must have taken to design a tent that compeletly disregards all of the features that makes a tent desirable.. portabliity and durablity.
what about breathing holes? is the intention here to suffocate the homeless?
I am impressed the brilliant intelect it must have taken to design a tent that compeletly disregards all of the features that makes a tent desirable.. portabliity and durablity.
what about breathing holes? is the intention here to suffocate the homeless?
How much money did it take to build this thing; including all the tools that were utilized and labor? This is ridiculous, I think I would feel more inspired to commend him for his work if he actually donates the money he won to an actual homeless shelter. I am not impressed. Imagine if you were homeless and someone presents you with this object and says, “here for you to live in”. Am sure that homeless person would have appreciated a sandwich more than this ridiculous contraption.
How much money did it take to build this thing; including all the tools that were utilized and labor? This is ridiculous, I think I would feel more inspired to commend him for his work if he actually donates the money he won to an actual homeless shelter. I am not impressed. Imagine if you were homeless and someone presents you with this object and says, “here for you to live in”. Am sure that homeless person would have appreciated a sandwich more than this ridiculous contraption.
I think that is awsome and started at such a young age
I think that is awsome and started at such a young age
Although simple and basic, I enjoyed reading this article because it is comprehensive.
:O)
xoxo
Although simple and basic, I enjoyed reading this article because it is comprehensive.
:O)
xoxo
Very touching! I hope this inspires others to utilize their skills and creativity to selflessly help those in need.
Very touching! I hope this inspires others to utilize their skills and creativity to selflessly help those in need.
Hello there,
I just want to say that the Home Dome is an awesome idea and it turned out great. When I was watching the video and looking at it, made me think. Question – how heavy is it, and is there a possibility that it could blow away if windy?
Hello there,
I just want to say that the Home Dome is an awesome idea and it turned out great. When I was watching the video and looking at it, made me think. Question – how heavy is it, and is there a possibility that it could blow away if windy?