Putting Together My Hand Washer

Today I decided to put together the Lehman's Hand Washer i got! This is a clothes washer that is powered by your own arm & some water - but it is much larger then the Wonder Wash that spins a 2 pound load- this big boy hold 15 gallons of water, so that bigger things like sheets and blankets can actually be cleaned by hand too.
I have to say, I am not good with directions (aka, putting shtuff like dis' together kinda throws me off)... and even though it was fairly simply to figure out the directions were way too vague without any pictures. I basically went on intuition...
There is a hose attachment at the bottom, so that drainage of the water can be turned off and on - what makes this feature cool is you can move the washer to anywhere, since it's not plumbed into the house. You could wash clothes on the porch, in the bathroom, or anywhere ya want.
I bolted in the first set of wooden legs, and soon found out that plyers are needed to tighten the bolts and nuts together.
I ran into a problem on the second set of legs- the layers of metal holes were not matching up right, no matter how hard i pulled, tugged, pushed, and cursed at it - once i struggled to get one bolt in, it was impossible for the second series of holes to line up. I took my drill, put oil on the metal and drilled some of the metal out to make the hole more even... then got the leg on.Once both sets of legs were secured, there is a support bar and rod to put through the bottom holes. It definitely made the washer solid and sturdy.
I popped on the handle and the clear plastic top! All done and ready to try it out!
XoXo

Man In a Mini House

I met this guy, let's call him "Mikey", living in the tiniest of all tiny spaces eva' ... and even though he was not necessarily keen on his tiny house situation I found the basics of his survival to be poetic and just plain cool.
His temporary home in the 'shed' house can't be more then 6 feet by 12 feet... (give or take 2 feet on each side cause i didn't measure) with no running water or real electric source, just an extension cord for a basic thing or two. Mikey washes his hands in the creek below his tiny abode, the creek he has made into a rock landscaped personal oasis for himself.
When he tried running a heater inside the house, the uncovered eaves had invited all types of insects and birds into the roof - so wasps and ladybugs began squeezing out the ceiling cracks, and he'd wake up to a wasp resting on his pillow. He chose not to spray them though cause of the birds making their nests in there too. Instead he makes a fire at night to warm up to outside.
Mikey is a naturalist, private kind of guy - just him and his really sweet dog. I really enjoyed warming by the fire and petting the dog, the dog liked sitting on my feet and putting it's tail dangerously close to the fire. I liked dreaming of tiny house living.

Normally I'd talk about how much people LOVE their tiny eco savvy homes, but Mikey does not like it... there is still so much potential in that simple structure, which was built for "jus' $900" ... i could see a wood stove being put underneath, walling in the bottom to have two tiny stories in the space, the bottom being for heat and cooking, the top for resting. With all the free supplies you can get on craigslist these days, building this kind of tiny structure, or just finishing up an existing one like this could be done virtually for free.

Do any of ya'll have a favorite mini house?! What is the smallest space you'd be willing to live?

XoXo

Low Impact Living: Green-O-Ween

Haven't made your Halloween costume yet? Scoot over to Low Impact Living to find out eco safe ways to celebrate Halloween, that won't harm the earth or your bank account! Make sure to check the comments section where many readers give their own Halloween tips too &

'Make Halloween Less Scary' for the planet!

Eco Friendly Building: EnviroGlass

After reading an article in Low Impact Living about the newly discovered dangers of granite countertops (that they can leak radon into your home) I was totally surprised. Sometimes a seemingly natural element just does not do well when taken out of it's environment and put into a home. Ozone is another example of this, have I ever told you how bad bad bad it is? (If not I will in another post.)
Low Impact Living provided an alternative material to granite, that I find similar but way more beautiful! And that is EnviroGlass! I am so in love with this versatile material, that can be made for countertops, but also into flooring (see pic). I love the way they cut it to mimic wood floors, but with that deep starry night blue! I wish I had a house to renovate, just for these gorgeous floors.
The glass comes in a variety of colors, cuts, and sizes- from red, blue, green and orange, to multi mixtures. Plus you can view the entire process of how it was made on the website, which is the kind of transparency I like to see in an environmentally friendly business.
Do you know of any other alternative countertop & flooring materials?

FREE Green House Plans

Ever dreamed of building an environmentally friendly house but started feeling icky at the thought of paying a fancy architect a load of money to design it for you? For those who love conventional to modern design there are now FREE green house plans that you can download right to your computer! Take a virtual tour of each, choose the one you love and fits your personal needs- voila! You have your blue print, now all you need is a plot of land. Square footage runs from 1,000-3,000 Sq ft in small boxy styles to the California villa.
This kind of service is exactly what we need to help spearhead eco building practices into the mainstream. Free is not something usually associated with building green, but thanks to FreeGreen that myth is busted! May many more companies follow their lead in providing free public services that keep our planet healthy.

Via: Low Impact Living

Bye Bye Clunky Solar Panels, Hello Thin Solar Strips

Remember what a big deal it was to go from 8-track cartridges to cassettes, and then from big records to CD's and then CD's to an I-Pod ?!! As with all technology things just keep getting smaller, and thank gawd for the environment that this is such a hip thing to do. Computers, phones, music devices have all shrunk. All the more reason for gadgets made with the environment in mind to shrink in weight also - and finally the big clunky solar panels have done so. A huge advance in solar technology has lead to thin solar strips for your roof- no more giant installation projects that put holes in your roof to be harnessed. Read this article from Low Impact Living to get the techie scoop !

Image: Low Impact Living