For the first time in the history of housing, our places of habitation are getting smaller. As an antithesis to the McMansion trend—and a reflection of our current economic downturn—the tiny house movement embraces a whole new set of values: affordability, conservation of resources, downsizing, simplicity and a reevaluation of what the good life looks like. Websites like tinyhouseblog and cabinporn have thousands of fans and are a sure way to spend an afternoon in fantasy land. But for more and more people, this is not just an afternoon daydream, but rather a whole new way of life.

Jeff Shelden’s cabin in Montana’s Judith Mountains, as pictured on page 70 of Tiny Homes.

The energy, creativity, and ambition of this trend are perfectly captured in Lloyd Khan’s new book, Tiny Homes, Simple Shelter: Scaling Back in the 21^st Century. With more than 1,300 photos featuring 150 different tiny homes that range from small houses, to houseboats, campers, straw bale, and round timber, the book is crammed full of ideas and inspiration. The builders of these small spaces vary in experience from novices fulfilling life-long dreams of building their own homes, to architects and entrepreneurs with multiple tiny houses on their resumes. Organized like a family’s photo album, the book provides an intimate look into the spaces of strangers. Yet these tiny houses so perfectly reflect each homeowner’s personality that by the end of the book they will all feel like old friends.

The aesthetic designs, materials and approaches found in Tiny Homes are as diverse as the people who choose to make these spaces their homes. While some look like little more than mud huts, others have the charm of rustic wood hunting cabins from the turn of the century, or resemble a building straight out of a science fiction movie, metallic and paneled in energy harvesting solar cells. Defining shelter as more than just a roof over your head, Tiny Homes explores the oft-forgotten connection with the land and materials upon and with which we built our shelters.

Darren Macca and Ann Holley’s transportable ProtoStoga, as pictured on page 178 of Tiny Homes.

For instance, Mike Basich, a professional snowboarder, bought 40 acres on Donner Summit and built his house from the rock and lumber found on his land. Situated on a stuffing site, he can snowboard out his front door in the winter, and in summer the stone cottage perfectly blends in with the grey rock mountain landscape.

In another example, Linda Smiley Evans built a beautiful and organic looking house from cob and straw bales, with most materials wither from the site, recycled, or pulled out of the commercial waste stream. The roof is layered with a pond liner membrane cover and planted with native ferns and flower bulbs.

On the other end of the spectrum, the weeHouses by Alchemy Architects, are a prefab system with a clean modern aesthetic of wood and glass.

While the tiny house movement may be garnering a lot of new attention, the book’s author Lloyd Kahn is a longtime activist and visionary. His previous book, Shelter, first published in 1973, is a bible of handmade houses and helped give birth to the “Green Building” revolution. Tiny Homes brings Kahn’s vision into the 21st century by introducing us to countless others exploring alternative approaches to housing. The book is not lacking in examples or momentum, and while the low resolution quality of some photos is unfortunate, the sheer quantity of images more than makes up for it. Thoughtful commentary further enhances the pictures by telling the stories behind the houses, which are often as fascinating as the structures themselves.

SunRay Kelley’s “man cave” in Washington state’s forested land, as pictured on page 101 of Tiny Homes.

More than anything else, this book is a roadmap for a journey. It’s an excursion into the potential joy of scaling back, reducing living costs, and escaping high mortgages and rents. The design of these structure embraces the idea of a simpler life, and recognizes that people are happier when they are surrounded with high quality materials and an efficient use of space, rather than the consumer-culture-driven cluttered masses of “stuff” that seem to accumulate exponentially with every passing day. Self-sufficiency is prized and artistic approaches are highlighted, stirring a deep hum within our collective creative roots.

I plan to spend many more hours perusing this curated assortment of spaces, both for inspiration and to rouse a deeper imagination of what home can be.

Check out Lloyd Khan and the trailer for the book:

The post Book Review: Tiny Homes appeared first on REVMODO.

The book, which was first distributed at the Rio+20 conference in June and is now available in a digital version, is not the first to call for urgent action in sustainability. However, it is somewhat unique in attempting to take a wholly comprehensive (though abridged) look at the environmental problems we face in 2012, and potential solutions to those problems. The book is also filled with gorgeous photographs from National Geographic photographer Mattias Klum.

Ice forms fantastic shapes in Grey Lake on the edge of Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park. Photo credit: Mattias Klum

The Human Quest begins with the idea that we are the first generation to understand that humanity has the power to destroy the Earth’s ability to support us. For 10,000 years, humans thrived in the interglacial age known as the Holocene, with stable temperatures that allowed the human population to swell from a few million people to seven billion. Now, according to many scientists — including the authors of this book — we’ve entered a new era called the “Anthropocene,” from the Greek word for human. People have influenced the planet so dramatically that we have pushed the Earth into a new geological age.

Surrounded by reefs and lagoons, the island of Ovelau is part of the Fiji archipelago in the South Pacific. Photo credit: Mattias Klum

Rockström, who heads the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden, lists the many environmental tipping points converging before us: climate change, ozone depletion, disappearing fish stocks, loss of tropical forests and woodlands, and global mass extinctions. More than 9,000 plant species and more than 10,000 animal species are now endangered. The author continually stresses that the loss of this biodiversity isn’t only critical because our children or grandchildren will miss the privilege of seeing these animals, but because they are a fundamental part of our support system as humans. The “ecosystem services” that nature provides — like clean drinking water and pollination — possess a financial value worth more than the GDPs of 196 countries in the world.

The book suggests that there are nine “planetary boundaries” that humans must respect in order to preserve Earth’s capacity to support human life. To stay within a “safe operating space,” we need to move back within three “big” boundaries: climate change, ozone depletion, and ocean acidification, which each have catastrophic tipping points. For climate change, we have already passed beyond the boundary, and need to bring atmospheric greenhouse gases back within safe limits. Rockström also lists four “slow” boundaries that are critical for nature’s resilience: freshwater use, land use, biodiversity loss, and nutrient cycling. Last, he includes two human-made boundaries: chemical pollution and particulate air pollution. Each of these boundaries is being tested as global consumption swells exponentially.

Tebaran, a blowpipe hunter in Sarawak, Malaysia, sees a difficult path ahead for indigenous people in Borneo, as logging operations and palm oil plantations rapidly engulf the land of his ancestors, rainforests that were abundant in plants and animals. Photo credit: Mattias Klum

Though Rockström’s words and Klum’s stunning photographs make it clear how urgent and immense the challenge is, the book ends with optimism. “We have the intelligence, the creativity, the technological know-how, and the power to steer clear of a disastrous future,” Rockström writes. “Our Human Quest is no utopia; it is an achievable dream.” The book shares examples of necessary steps toward sustainability, including a shift to renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. Most critical, they say, is a change in mindset. We need to stop thinking of the environment as something “out there” and separate, and realize that it is a part of us; we also need to understand how quickly we must act.

The book is worth reading. Unfortunately, printed versions were limited to those given out at Rio+20 and the digital copy doesn’t seem optimized for all web or mobile devices. Here’s hoping the publisher improves on the current offering so more people read this important message.

All photos courtesy Mattias Klum

The post Book Review: The Human Quest appeared first on REVMODO.

The device has two always on outlets, four energy saver outlets and two USB ports for charging mp3 players and mobile devices. The always on outlets would best be used for household telephones, modems and routers, while the energy saver outlets should be used for devices that use the most phantom energy. For me, that’s a computer, television and game console.

I used the Smart Strip with my modem and router hooked up to the always on outlets, and my computer charge cord in an energy saver outlet. The location in the house — a work and study hub — is also ideal for charging mp3 players and cellphones through the USB ports. Also, the black design draws less attention to the cords, which, let’s face it, can be a real eyesore.

One other feature of the Smart Strip is a remote that controls the energy saver outlets. The remote can stand on its own, or be inserted into a USB port to control power to a computer.

We all have our limits to how much effort we put toward being green. My partner and I differ greatly in our habits, and the SUG7 worked with both our lifestyles. The remote feature is ideal with the Smart Strip hooked up to our television and game console, as we use remotes for those devices anyway. Even though my partner rarely switches off our other power strips, the convenience of the remote made it easy to change that habit.

Curious to see how much phantom energy your household offenders use? Check out this table from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Want to try it out?
We’re giving away one SUG7 Smart Strip. Because phantom energy can also be called vampire energy, we want to know what supernatural being reminds you most of a particular electronic device. (Vampires remind me of a coffee maker, because they are as scared of the sun as I am in the morning.) Please email your response to Lisa@Revmodo.com by midnight EST on Thursday, Aug. 16.

Disclaimer: We received complimentary Smart Strips from Bits Limited for review and giveaway.

The post SUG7 Energy Saving Surge Protector Review + Giveaway appeared first on REVMODO.

Reuseit.com sent us a LunchBots 16 oz Insulated Stainless Steel Food Container to check out, and having never used one of these insulated containers before I was pretty psyched to give it a try. The one they sent works with both hot and cold foods, has a screw-on watertight lid with a food-safe silicone seal, and is dishwasher safe. It won’t ever rust and with proper care should last you many, many years. Think of how many plastic baggies something like this could replace!

To test it out, we prepared a picnic yesterday with the main course being organic, free-range chicken. In order to ensure the food you pack stays warm, the directions state to fill it with hot water for a few minutes before use. We did that, cooked and grilled the chicken, and put it in the container to take with us to the park.

Here’s what the container looks like in action in my kitchen:

Well over an hour after we packed up our goodies at home, I opened up the LunchBots container. The chicken was nearly just as hot as it was before we had left and tasted delicious. I am sold on these containers, imagining bringing cold fruit on hiking trips and hot soup on winter treks. Will definitely have to pick up a few more in the very near future.

And here’s the cool part – Reuseit is offering up one of these containers to a lucky reader of Revmodo! All you have to do to enter is email Lisa here at Revmodo three different soup recipes than can be served either warm or cold. Her email is lisa@revmodo.com and be sure to get those entries in before midnight EST Thursday August 9th. Open to U.S. residents only. The winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries received and will be notified by email.

Good luck and big thanks to Reuseit for the giveaway!

The post LunchBots Stainless Steel Food Container Review + Giveaway appeared first on REVMODO.

The PURE Glass Bottle was developed by Walt Himelstein, an Environmental Chemist with over 23 years experience. The bottles are glass, yes, but they are coated on the outside with a thin “SafeShell Technology” BPA-free plastic coating. This means that whatever you are drinking only comes in contact with glass, protecting the taste of your beverage (some metal bottles leave an aftertaste.) The outside coating protects you in case you happen to drop the bottle by containing any shards inside it and keeping you from touching broken glass. It’s a win-win for anyone interested in drinking only from glass containers but concerned about what happens if they drop their bottle.

I was sent a (free) bottle to review here at Revmodo and my first impression was that I really did like the bottle. It’s sleek and well-designed, has an opening large enough to drop ice cubes into, can go into the dishwasher, and my water tasted really great. There are several different bottle top types available but the top I was sent, the simple flat top (the best one, in my opinion) is made from an FDA approved material called Eastman Tritan which is also BPA-free. It is even 100% recyclable at the end of its life. All in all, PURE has made a solid water bottle that definitely delivers on its promises.

When I took it with me on several hiking trips, however, I realized that I was being extra careful with the bottle as I knew that if I happened to drop it on a rock it could shatter. Also, it’s a bit heavier than my metal water bottles are, so it was a little more tiring to carry it throughout the hike. Those were my only concerns with the PURE bottle.

That all being said, I am now taking my PURE bottle with me wherever I go that doesn’t involve hiking or carrying it for long distances. The minimalist in me loves the way it looks and it lets me carry water without feeling like I am letting everyone know I am about to leave on an expedition up Everest. It’s a really great water bottle for anyone who wants to avoid metal and plastic but also wants to look a little stylish. It has become a staple in my water bottle arsenal, just not for long treks through the woods. The two different models (17.5 and 25 oz) of PURE bottles are available over at PURE Glass Bottle for $19.95 each.

Want to try it out?

We’re giving away some PURE Glass Bottles! For details, visit the Revmodo Facebook page.

Disclosure: Bottles were provided by the company for review and giveaway. Revmodo is not affiliated with PURE Glass Bottles.

The post PURE Glass Water Bottle Review and Giveaway appeared first on REVMODO.