The Concept House Village in Heijplaat village, Rotterdam

We always talk about sustainable living but what are we doing to get us there?

In Netherlands, they started the ball rolling through Concept House Institute of Building and Business Administration (CHIBB). They built experimental sustainable house designed by Rotterdam University students and researchers in Concept House Village located at Heijplaat village. The idea is to explore innovative housing concepts in a bid to develop sustainable living communities.

Dutch stylist, Helly Scholten, was selected to run the experiment by living full time in an "oversized greenhouse" with rooftop vegetable garden for 3 years. She and her family members have been there since 2015 and you can view photos and read about their experience at the following links:

Living in a greenhouse: One family's experiment in sustainable living
Helly Scholten
Instagram

You can find out more about Concept House Village at the following links:

Creating Comfortable Climatic Cities
Concept House Village Brochure

Let us hope that decision makers in our own country will also work on the aspects of starting sustainable living communities locally. Meantime, what ideas can we adopt to lead a sustainable life? 

According to author, Sam Richards, of "Sustainable Living: Guide to Living a Fully Self-Sustainable Life That Will Eliminate All of Your Expenses", they are many things that we can learn to do for our home, like learning to conserve water by installing a rainwater harvesting system, learning to grow our own food and preserving our bountiful.  For the more ambitious, we can also learn to generate our own solar energy.



Another book that you can read up on is, "The Integral Urban House: Self Reliant Living in the City", which is considered the bible of urban homesteading. The book is written through the experience of living in the Integral Urban House set up in Berkeley, California by Sim Van der Ryn, Farallones Institute, Helga and Bill Olkowski.

Mason jars not made for food

The mason jars supplied by Harald Schultz are not meant for food but the light they created, provided food on the table of formerly unemployed and under educated men and women from South Africa, who are now working for him.

He calls it Consol Solar Jar as it uses the power of the sun to charge its solar cells.



This is definitely a safer and more sustainable alternative to the kerosene lamps used in most developing countries.

Now, what else can we create with mason jars?  Harald Schultz's green initiatives are inspiring.  Don't you agree?

Beyond your budget? It's time for change!

Yes, it is time for change if the house of your dream is beyond your budget.  How?  Dan Phillips, an American designer and builder from Texas can give you some ideas.  See what he can build on a low budget through his construction company Phoenix Commotion.