Single Speed Stella

I like to read the news, because it points out obvious stuff about why our economy right now is on the crapper and then makes it SHOCKING!!!. It also likes to make people feel like they're victims, like, everyone should be able to spend, spend, spend, and throw stuff away, and do whatever they like - damn the consequences! It's our RIGHT! - and then oh no! Debt!? Pollution?! Layoffs?!! NO FAIR!!!

"We learn as children that there is no free lunch, that you don't get something from nothing, that what goes up must come down, and so on."

Right? Right. It will get worse before it gets better, but hopefully we're all more aware of our habits and the long term consequences...(yeah, I know, yadda-yadda-yadda...)

So, anyways, I caught this little article, and I thought it was one of the raddest things ever. Of course, first she has to have a friend that's cool with her bumming in the yard, and second, um, sewage?

News
Mon Jun 16, 6:03 PM ET

"Olympia, Washington: Dee Williams wanted a simpler, greener life -- so she built her dream house, an 84-square-foot cottage on wheels, which is currently parked in a friend's backyard. Not only did she save money using salvaged materials (the front door came from a dumpster, for instance), but the entire house is small enough to fit into a standard parking spot. Says Williams, 'Right now, there's nowhere else I want to be.'

Williams’ trailer cottage is surprisingly roomy inside, largely thanks to its clever use of height. For example, Williams’ bed is in a loft above her kitchen. Williams is proud to have fulfilled her goal of minimizing her ecological footprint. Her monthly heating bill is $6 and, thanks to solar panels, her electricity is free. Her approach goes against the national trend: Americans consume 40 percent of the world’s oil and 23 percent of its coal."

It's always rad when people opt for less, not more...