Sunday, April 24, 2011

Our recycled cottage

This is our recycled cottage (home) at Balingup Sustainable Small Farm. In 2002 it cost me $1500, but unfortunately $26,500 to move it from Manjimup to Balingup. Still it was a pretty good deal when just a concrete slab was going to cost $30,000.

It came with an outside laundry (now a shed full of recycled stuff), a garage (also full - in fact so full I broke one of the floor joists but that is another story), a hills hoist, a tile fire, gas hot water system (still going, just) and a heavy jarrah picnic table. Cut in half with a circular saw and all moved on three low-loaders.

Nearly everything in the house is recycled! We have over 3000 books - all secondhand except for maybe a dozen. This is minus the 4000 or so we sold off. All our furniture is scavanged, most of our clothes, nearly all our crockery and cutlery. I have a shed full of computers, two full of tools. You name we've got it - all recycled - most of it from tips, side of the road, op shops and garage sales. We lived very poor for a very long time so we became really good at making something from nothing. We are constantly amazed by what people throw away and why everyone hasn't done what we've done on virtually no income.

What we can't find we do without until we can find it. There are few things things that you really need but many that make life easier. We adapt things to do the job and modify others to do a job they were never intended for. Just believe in abundance thinking - I never used to but now I'm a convert. Think of it and it will come (or maybe it's just a matter of keeping your eyes open).

We are very proud of what we've done here - it is amazing!

No comments:

Post a Comment