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)
Although this is wonderfully executed and a novel idea, doesn’t styrofoam leach out toxicity over an extended period of time? So, is it a great idea to provide toxic air shelters for the homeless???? nooooooo
Way to go! I am impressed you actually followed through on your desire to help the homeless and indigent. It only takes one idea full of passion to change the world.
There is only one major set back your in a plastic bubble with a half way good seal to the ground it won’t take long to suffocate
it looks good i think n hes dune a good job to say hes built hiself
Well, this isn’t what I thought it would be. Essentially an un-economical tent. I didn’t see any ‘trash’ being used at all. Looked like all brand new wire and plastic to me.
Also, how many man hours did it take to erect this thing?
Doesn’t seem very economical. May as well just buy every bumb a tent.
Although this is wonderfully executed and a novel idea, doesn’t styrofoam leach out toxicity over an extended period of time? So, is it a great idea to provide toxic air shelters for the homeless???? nooooooo
Way to go! I am impressed you actually followed through on your desire to help the homeless and indigent. It only takes one idea full of passion to change the world.
There is only one major set back your in a plastic bubble with a half way good seal to the ground it won’t take long to suffocate
it looks good i think n hes dune a good job to say hes built hiself
Well, this isn’t what I thought it would be. Essentially an un-economical tent. I didn’t see any ‘trash’ being used at all. Looked like all brand new wire and plastic to me.
Also, how many man hours did it take to erect this thing?
Doesn’t seem very economical. May as well just buy every bumb a tent.
Stupid… We recognize a 12 year old kid for making a home out of trash…. Talk to the homeless… They have been doing it for years
but is it breathable? and would actual homeless folks go for it?
Stupid… We recognize a 12 year old kid for making a home out of trash…. Talk to the homeless… They have been doing it for years
but is it breathable? and would actual homeless folks go for it?
So…It looks to me like he had some help, no?
Ashleigh, what do you mean by “observical”?
It’s a cool idea, but I don’t think the police would allow people to put them up anywhere because the picky public would say they are eye sores.
Wow how awesome, to think there is still someone in this world that has that kind of compassion for his fellow man. Hat’s off to you Max. Alot of us could learn alot from you especially with our enonmic.
I wish you the best, keep up the good work you deserve it.
Better than setting in front of a TV playing Playstation you used your intelligences.. Excellent..
What a great kid
So…It looks to me like he had some help, no?
Ashleigh, what do you mean by “observical”?
It’s a cool idea, but I don’t think the police would allow people to put them up anywhere because the picky public would say they are eye sores.
Wow how awesome, to think there is still someone in this world that has that kind of compassion for his fellow man. Hat’s off to you Max. Alot of us could learn alot from you especially with our enonmic.
I wish you the best, keep up the good work you deserve it.
Better than setting in front of a TV playing Playstation you used your intelligences.. Excellent..
What a great kid
wow, we need alot more kids like him in this world. Thanks to the parents for raising a great kid!!!
wow, we need alot more kids like him in this world. Thanks to the parents for raising a great kid!!!
brilliant.
HE GIVES HOPE FOR THE MILLIONS OF LAID OFF WORKERS OF AMERICA. AT LEAST THEY’LL HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE.
NOW HIS NEXT PROJECT:
HOW TO MAKE A WHOPPER FROM TRASH
And everyone wants to wonder why eco initiatives never take off? I figure that if you spend all that time engineering, planning, budgeting, building anything green then those individuals or businesses are doing more than the most of us. Kicking them and putting them down is not going make the eco industry look attractive to anyone accept to fanatics or radicals. I am not brave enough to condemn anyone trying anything. So like it was over 30 years ago all this “green” thing collapse due to the same bad attitudes. Offer ideas/solutions or offer nothing at all.
brilliant.
HE GIVES HOPE FOR THE MILLIONS OF LAID OFF WORKERS OF AMERICA. AT LEAST THEY’LL HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE.
NOW HIS NEXT PROJECT:
HOW TO MAKE A WHOPPER FROM TRASH
And everyone wants to wonder why eco initiatives never take off? I figure that if you spend all that time engineering, planning, budgeting, building anything green then those individuals or businesses are doing more than the most of us. Kicking them and putting them down is not going make the eco industry look attractive to anyone accept to fanatics or radicals. I am not brave enough to condemn anyone trying anything. So like it was over 30 years ago all this “green” thing collapse due to the same bad attitudes. Offer ideas/solutions or offer nothing at all.
Great idea! Submit the idea to Prez Obama to get some of our money before it’s all gone. Let me know how I can get one of those handy dandy houses, will ya? Thanks!
What a kind, clever and well-spoken young man. It’s nice to know that there are still young people who care about people other than themselves.
This is nothing but another impractical invention. It’s not as if we’re gonna be seeing the homeless using that to shelter themselves from the cold during nights of sleeping out in the open. Also, are these guys trying to encourage homeless people to sleep in the open? It seems that way to me.
Finally, it had to be a kid to remind us that we all can do some good in this world with less.
Great idea! Submit the idea to Prez Obama to get some of our money before it’s all gone. Let me know how I can get one of those handy dandy houses, will ya? Thanks!
What a kind, clever and well-spoken young man. It’s nice to know that there are still young people who care about people other than themselves.
This is nothing but another impractical invention. It’s not as if we’re gonna be seeing the homeless using that to shelter themselves from the cold during nights of sleeping out in the open. Also, are these guys trying to encourage homeless people to sleep in the open? It seems that way to me.
Finally, it had to be a kid to remind us that we all can do some good in this world with less.
Good for this kid! This made my day a lot brighter to know there are kids out there who expand their minds and intentions to help other people.
Cute idea, but it’s not ‘made from trash’. Everything they used was new. Had they really made it from found/recycled items, then I’d be impressed.
Is that some kind of passive aggressive way of saying that the homeless deserve to live in garbage?
Nice one, kid. Nice.
Good for this kid! This made my day a lot brighter to know there are kids out there who expand their minds and intentions to help other people.
Cute idea, but it’s not ‘made from trash’. Everything they used was new. Had they really made it from found/recycled items, then I’d be impressed.
Great job and idea.But i would think it would be reather difficult for them to carry around
Is that some kind of passive aggressive way of saying that the homeless deserve to live in garbage?
Nice one, kid. Nice.
This kid is awsome. FEMA should contract him to make a hundred thousand of these so they could be rapidly deployed in case of natural disaster.
I think this is great I was wondering if this is even leak proof, like a tent?
This kid is awsome. FEMA should contract him to make a hundred thousand of these so they could be rapidly deployed in case of natural disaster.
I am much older then this child and I made my granddaughter furniture out of materials that would have just been trash. I think going green is a great thing.
I’m glad that the youth are taking an interest in protecting the environment and taking steps to invent ways to re-use and recycle trash. I hope that Max will be an inspiration not only to the young but the older generations as well.