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August 09, 2004
Idaho Sustainable Living
Last night we were treated to dinner and stayed with an older couple that were good friends of Greg's parents. They took us to a very nice seafood restaurant and talked about banal topics I pretended to be interested in. Not that it wasn't interesting. As a student of human nature, these well-to-do people represented a wholly different world view than the green-minded people we had been mostly staying with. While I disagree with and would criticize a lot of their world view, it is difficult to turn that into a judgment of these people. They were very nice people who grew up in a different time. They, no doubt, placed a high priority on being good people based on the only definition of that they've ever known.
The next morning we saw the 3500 sq ft. house they are building on a sizable lake. Ken, the man of the house, had done the architecture himself and was personally overseeing the construction on a daily basis. While they were building the house, they were living in a large motor home nearby.
Motor homes are often poked fun at for their apparent excesses. They do, after all, get less than 10 mpg. In another demonstration of how we can be shown a different way of looking at something that changes our opinions, I was shown a way of seeing motor homes that makes them seem extremely green. Basically, every aspect of a motor homes engineering is about conservation, be it water, power, space, you get the picture. So, while it may only get 8mpg, overall, it conserves more energy than most houses. Plus, its small footprint and mobile nature means one can move with the weather to further reduce heating and cooling costs. The toilet uses so little water. The kitchen table becomes a bed. Everything has a double purpose. No space is left unused. It is a miracle of modern efficiency. It makes me want a motor home :) Plus, just living in one encourages you to minimize the amount of stuff you accumulate and the quantity you waste. Definitely something to think about.
Posted by wonko at August 9, 2004 04:26 PM
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Comments
As the miles accrue, my jealously does too!
Posted by: obigabu at August 9, 2004 04:33 PM
One could also live on a boat :)
Posted by: Turd Furguesson at August 9, 2004 05:14 PM
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