Tag Archives: Life

Picture 100 autonomous self driving volvo cars on streets soon No020

2016-03-23 admin Leave a comment

Autonomous cars. You might be wondering why Tellus Think Tank, wannabe world saver, is caring so much about the future of vehicles? Currently cars pollute our air, cause huge carbon dioxide emittances, are loud and limiting to lively outdoor urban communities. The Tellus Think Tank team looks towards the future of vehicles to find a better more people friendly way of conducting our daily traffic. We are visiting Gothenburg – a city soon equipped with 100 self driving autonomous cars! Text: Domi, Tellus Think Tank. Photo: AnnVixen

More inspiration on moving lives and communities of our planet into sustainable boundaries!

What is the big deal with autonomous cars?

Self driving autonomous cars may seem weird or scary to some and inspiring and exciting to others.

Imagine some of these scenarios of what could be possible for the future of transportation – when only self driving autonomous cars are in traffic:

It’s 08.00 and you are getting ready to leave home to go to work. You ask your mobile wrist phone to send a car, tell it how many people will be travelling and where you are going…you are going to work, on your own and want the fast, cheaper and comfortable commuter train to take you the largest part of the way.
The central traffic system sends you a message that an autonomous taxi for one person will arrive at your doorstep within 2 minutes to take you to the commuter station. This is exactly what happens. You arrive at the station with two minutes margin and easily catch the quiet commuter train to the city and arrive at work on time.The cost of travelling is deducted from your account. When you left the car at the station drop-off zone the central traffic system sent the car directly to a new assignment. There are no visible parking spaces around the commuter station but you feel at ease with that as you will have an autonomous taxi pick you and your spouse up at the commuter station on your way home.
Your 12 year old twins and four neighbourhood children have football practice this
Future scenario: No cars in streets – more room for children. Foto: AnnVixen

evening and at their request an autonomous electrical minibus picks them up to take them to the field together.
You and your family of 5 are visiting your parents, about 1.5 hour drive from your home. The autonomous taxi gets you there safely, cleaner and faster to your destination by joining a car convoy on the autonomous-only highway. You and your family are using the travel time to engage in the game of monopoly that you brought with you for the ride.
Road signs were taken down years ago, as autonomous traffic relies on online data
Future scenario: Traffic signs have been taken down… Photo: AnnVixen

from the central traffic system. There are no cars parked in the streets. Your community is discussing if the overcapacity of the local streets could be turned into a community urban farm, make room for a new sportsfield or more houses. Or would all three options be possible?
It is even cheaper to use the autonomous self driving local buses, they run silently, fast and safe. Even though it is raining you don’t mind walking 5 minutes to the indoor bus station where the buses come in with a high frequency, and you enjoy the ride down to the supermarket or to the gym down the road.
You dare send your 5 year old across the street to ask for a cup of sugar, it is safe as the autonomous cars that might be passing will be aware of your child’s presence. Before dinner your children will be biking in the street for an hour, playing with their friends.
Traffic is quiet. You stand on your toes and peek over the high fence at the back of
Peeking onto the quiet self-driving motorway of the future. Photo: VincentVixen

your garden to look out over the peak hour traffic of the motorway – hundreds of cars are passing and you didn’t hear them once – forgot they were there, did you?
You normally sleep with your windows open and are woken only by the song of the birds.

I hope that these scenarios give an insight as to how important electrical and self driving cars are – and what all the fuss is about – they will shape our future way of living.

So what is being done to move society towards the traffic of the future?

Is the car industry on track to making the future happen?

The ascent of the autonomous car might be the descent of the larger car industry and the car producers are keen to be in the first line of the autonomous car development as the earliest marketed autonomous cars might be the market winners of the future.

Many of us have heard or read about the Google Car trials in fair weathered Mountain View in California. In my online research I find that Google is also performing trials both in the hotter climate of Austin in Texas and in Kirkland, a suburb to the rainy and snowy city of Seattle in Washington state – all three trial areas are found in the USA.

You might also have read that the United Kingdom is requesting that Google Cars are introduced to trials in the streets of London.

Exactly how Google is planning to commercialise their car trials is not clear yet however John Krafcik, former CEO of Hyundai and TrueCar and by some called a “car guy”, was recently recruited to the role as CEO of Google Cars.

Marcus Rothoff is the Autonomous Driving Program Director and head of implementation of Volvos self driving cars. Photo: Volvo Cars

I turn to Swedish run Volvo Cars as they are planning the largest real customer trials with 100 autonomous cars running on real streets in the urban area of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Taking the seven scenarios of self driving cars into consideration Marcus Rothoff must currently have one of the coolest jobs in the world – Autonomous Driving Program Director and head of implementation of Volvos self driving cars. He smiles and nods in agreement and humbly says it is very inspiring to be able to work in an area that might just change the way we live in the future.

According to Marcus all major car manufacturers are currently looking at the autonomous car development, to mention some: Audi, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Mercedes, BMW, Tesla, Nissan, Toyota, Renault, Ford, GM.

Online rumours say that Apple are doing something too, as they are hiring one thousand engineers in the area of autonomous cars, but nobody seems to know exactly what they are up to.

The eight scenarios above of fully autonomous traffic is still far away. How far down the autonomous track will the first cars on the market reach?

DriveMe is an autonomous car project run in cooperation between Volvo Cars, Gothenburg City, Swedish government agencies and Chalmers University of Technology

Lars-Bertil Ekman, CEO of the City of Gothenburg. Photo: City of Gothenburg

The Swedish DriveMe trial is a project built on a unique collaboration between parties that CEO of Gothenburg City, Lars-Bertil Ekman, calls academia, industry and community.

The parties are Gothenburg City, the Swedish Transport Administration (vägverket), Chalmers University of Technology, Autoliv and Volvo Cars.

Marcus Rothoff is also Götethe project manager of the DriveMe project and plans to be placing 100 self driving cars on trial on the streets of Gothenburg in 2017.

-The city of Gothenburg is participating in the DriveMe-project as we want to remove the overpowering amount of cars from the city core, says Lars-Bertil Ekman.

We want to find better parking solutions for the city and clear public spaces such as streets and squares from cars and make them available to bicycles and pedestrians which will make streets more lively. Read more about this urban trend: Stockholm turns traffic pyramid upside down.

The quay's of Gothenburg are filled with parked cars. Photo: AnnVixen — The quay’s of Gothenburg are filled with parked cars. Photo: AnnVixen

Lars-Bertil talks about keeping cars in the city center but adjusting parking to the pre-requisites of the autonomous self driving cars. Autonomous cars could be packed tighter than today in buildings with lower ceilings, less lighting and wouldn’t need to be located in the very centre or even above ground as humans would very seldom would be entering the parking building.

Lars-Bertil’s parking vision for the city is still far away though, especially as the DriveMe-project will initially not be running cars in self driving mode in the city but rather on the motorways.

Volvo Cars asked drivers what part of the driving they liked the least and would wish to be rid of. The almost unanimous answer was commuter driving in queues to and from work. The DriveMe-project is therefo

Drivers like commuter traffic the least. Photo: AnnVixen — Drivers of Volvo cars like commuter traffic the least. Photo: AnnVixen

re focusing their first autonomous trials on motorways so that drivers can do other things when travelling.

Marcus and I engage in what happens when the human driver hands over the control to the car. Marcus says it has to be very clear who is in control and that there should be no unclarity here, either it is the driver or it is the car. The biggest risks are when handing the control back and forward it seems. Marcus gives me a morning scenario:

“You get in your Volvo and tell the navigator your destination and start the drive to work. You manoeuvre the car up on to the motorway where you ask the car to take over. It considers circumstances like weather, reported traffic incidents and checks that the road is equipped with a barrier between you and meeting traffic and then takes over. The car informs you that it would like to give the control back to you in eight minutes which gives

Volvo Self-Driving panel. Photo: Volvo Cars

you a two minute margin to take over before you arrive at the motorway exit by your workplace. During these eight minutes you pick up your computer, read, send a few emails and are ready to take back the controls when the car says it is time”.

I ask what happens it the driver doesn’t take over when the car requests to hand back the control and learn that the car then goes into “safety mode”. The car manoeuvres itself to the closest safe parking space so that you can take over the controls again when it suits you.

Autonomous cars, here and autonomous volvo. — Go ahead and read a document, as the self-driving car gets you closer to work. Photo: Volvo Cars

This gives you time to finish sending your emails or your phone call.

Volvos first autonomous self driving cars will be Plug-in Hybrids with an electrical range of 40 kilometers, the fuel part will be petrol fuelled. Marcus says that most people have their workplace within 40 kilometers of their home. It will also be possible to choose when to run the car on the electric drive or petrol. All Volvo Cars are built on fuel efficient 4-cylinder engines since a couple of years back and have even won prizes such as the Volvo SUV that was appointed SUV of the year in US, 2015.

The trial, where Volvo will lend 100 real customers a self driving car, will be running on real streets in the Gothenburg region from 2017. Marcus says it is important that the 100 trial drivers use the cars differently but frequently so that as much data as possible can be gathered during the trial period. Google Cars already communicate having 1 million miles of test data.

The period up until the start of the Volvo DriveMe trial will focus on developing the most

The City of Gothenburg if supporting Multi-disciplinary projects to enhance traffic of the future. Photo: AnnVixen

safe self driving car possible and the trial itself is considered to be a period to gather evidence that the car is really safe.

We hope to have the first self driving Volvo cars on market by 2020! Says Marcus Rothoff. And 2020 is also the year that Volvo has set as a goal for their vision of zero lethal accidents in a Volvo car which I find to be a very inspiring goal, lets hope they make it!

Multi-disciplinary traffic systems

Often when talking about the development of the future we understand that by mixing disciplines we can go much further than if we did not – read about Plantagon – planning Urban Farming of the future.

When introducing self driving cars on roads they will not only be self driving at times but guided by information from a central traffic system.

The City of Gothenburg, Volvo Cars and buses, Autoliv, the Swedish Traffic Autorities are cooperating in different constelations to enhance traffic of the future. Photo: AnnVixen — The City of Gothenburg, Volvo Cars and buses, Autoliv, the Swedish Transport Administration and Chalmers University of Technology are cooperating in different constellations to enhance traffic of the future. In frame, the Gothenburg Bus Rapid Transit test. Photo: AnnVixen

Developing self driving autonomous cars and central traffic systems to guide them will include disciplines like technical development, digital development, human psychology, interaction between humans and machines, artificial intelligence, community development, traffic statistics, incident- and accident statistics, safety, legal systems to mention a few.

The high complexity of multiple disciplines when introducing self driving autonomous cars and developing the traffic systems of the future is a very good reason for this not to be an area solely developed by car manufacturers, or only by men (which is often the case today).

The most challenging period is still ahead. It will be when two traffic systems (manual driving and autonomous driving) have to be run in parallel. The current traffic system is based on humans driving cars with guidance from signs etc. In parallel autonomous cars will be on the street, not needing street sign guidance, but will have to deal with them too. Double systems will mean double costs for a period. Driving might first become more expensive before it gets cheaper. Hopefully society can make a fast transition by phasing out “the old system of manually driven cars”.

Watch film on the coming autonomous self-driving cars by Volvo

The DriveMe project, as Lars-Bertil Ekman told us, is unique. There are many parties cooperating in developing a future traffic system for the Volvo self driving cars. The Swedish Transport Administration, one of the parties, is also involved in both national investigations and an international cooperation with the purpose of laying the foundation for future international traffic guidelines for autonomous self driving cars.

Another party involved in the DriveMe project is Chalmers University of Technology that runs about 20 sub projects with articulately defined deliveries, fitted in size to fit PHD students heading towards a doctor degree.

We have seen that cooperation between community, industry and academia can be very successful – check out the four Tellus Think Tank articles on Newcastle – which makes me believe that the Volvo DriveMe project will be laying some very important parts for the foundation of the traffic systems of the future!

Next week: We start an investigation on organic food, first talk will be with a passionate breeder of pigs, if your are interested in what you are eating you might find this article interesting!
Click here to be notified when Tellus Think Tank’s next article is available – investigating inspiring sustainable happenings around the world!

DIY, Featured article, Inspiration

Compost – the black gold of urban farming No019

2016-03-16 admin Leave a comment

In our world today we have many different opportunities to go green. We can use solar energy to power our homes, drive hybrid cars, re-purpose old things to give them new life and even live in tiny homes. In this article John Morphis, founder of Backyard-eden, sheds light on one of the most over-looked ways to go green! Text by John Morphis. Photos: John Morphis and AnnVixen

One of the most over-looked ways to go green is the practice of composting. It is a simple and easy way to turn waste that would be thrown out into a useful resource. Compost in small amounts can change your life, compost in large amounts can change cities. With this talk about lives being changed, you have to be wondering, what is compost?

What is compost?

Compost simply means decayed organic material used as a plant fertiliser.

Basically, compost is broken down waste that eventually turns into soil and then is used to amend gardens. There is nothing more important to a gardener than compost. As a matter of fact, compost is considered the “black-gold” that fuels the garden by re-charging the soil with the necessary nutrients and micro-organisms needed to produce delicious fruits and vegetables. When a plant grows , it uses up resources found in the soil.

Think about it like this: you work in an office where you make copies throughout the day, you go into the copy room to use the copy machine only to find out there is no copy paper anywhere to be found. The room was out of paper because no one chose to re-stock it for the next person. Plants using up nutrients can be seen the same way. If no one replaces the nutrients the next planting will not have enough to thrive. We can refill the nutrients by adding compost to our soil.

Next week: Why is the development of traffic so important to a greener life? Would you like to be notified when the article is available?

Composting is a natural process of Earth.

The earth naturally does this process itself in forests across the globe. In the fall, the leaves start to change colours and eventually fall to the earth. Layers upon layers of leaves rest on top of the soil and breaks down over the winter making food for the trees. This topsoil compost found in forests is called humus.

This process helps the trees continue to grow, helps retain water in the soil by adding a layer of mulch and provides food for the natural micro-organisms found in the soil. There is a circle of life found in this system, everything working together to thrive. This works so well that we have imitated it in our gardening/ growing techniques.

Layers of leaves rest on top of the soil and break down over the winter making topsoil food for the trees, called humus. Photo: AnnVixen

The Back to Eden and Hugelcultur methods both use a similar concept of building soil by layering organic material that slowly breaks down. The earth has already lined out how to compost by the model that is given by our forests.

Can I start composting?

Can we simulate the natural composting process in our homes and gardens? Yes, absolutely and it is easy too! I believe every home should be composting in order to give back to their piece of earth.

You can use almost any vegetable matter that you would have left over in your kitchen such as tea bags, coffee grounds, bits and pieces of paper. Leaves and grass clippings from your yard also make great compost ingredients.
Their are some things to avoid putting in an open compost such as cooked foods like meats, dairy or any fatty foods.

Kitchen scraps for compost - eggshells, peels and other produce. Photo: Backyard-Eden — Kitchen scraps for compost – eggshells, peels and other produce. Photo: Backyard-Eden

Different types, methods and ingredients of composting

Getting started with composting is easier than it seems because there are several ways to compost and products to help you. The way you choose to compost is up to you but will greatly benefit you and your garden. The method you choose will also depend on the resources you have available; the space you have to devote, how much and what type of waste you produce.

The different types of composting are hot, cold, indoor, outdoor and vermi composting; however no matter what method you choose they all have the same basic principle.

In this article we will look at the “lasagna” method of composting which is a type of hot composting. The idea is to layer the different materials in such a way that the pile will heat up and break down faster.

Examples of nitrogen rich “greens” and carbon rich “browns” .

As we said before compost means decayed organic material so composting is the process by which we allow that material to decay and break down creating that nutrient rich black gold for your garden.

Your compost needs four ingredients:

nitrogen rich “greens”
carbon rich “browns”
water
oxygen in order to properly break down.

These four things are absolutely crucial to making your own compost. The compost pile needs the proper balance of the necessary ingredients and just like in life that balance can be hard to find. Once you get the balance down you will begin to make some of the best compost and it will supercharge your garden. Some of the best ingredients to compost are leaves, grass clippings, household kitchen scraps such as eggshells, peals and other vegetable materials (see Greens and Browns pictures above).

This is my compost, built from plans found online. It is still empty in the picture but ready to fill with layers of the four compost ingredients. Fill one side until full and then start filling the next half. Photo: Backyard-Eden.com

Getting started with the hot lasagna method

The easiest way to start composting is what gardeners call the lasagna method by starting a compost pile by layering nitrogen rich “green” materials follow by a layer of carbon rich “brown” materials. Alternate these layers as well as add water and some soil every couple of layers will put you well on your way to making compost.

Soil from your garden would work or some organic compost from a local garden center would work. The reason you add in some soil is to add in the micro organisms into the compost pile to speed up the process.

The water in addition to the other ingredients will cause your compost pile to heat up starting the decomposition process.

Add some soil to your lasagna compost. Photo: Backyard-Eden.com

You want to make sure to turn it every couple of weeks so that oxygen is introduced into the pile in order to aid in the material break down process. This process can take anywhere from 2-12 months depending on the amount of time you devote to turning it.

When the pile is almost completely broken down the pile will start to cool off some and it will be available to use in your garden or flower beds. That is the beauty of compost, you do not have to grow vegetables to be able to use it. Compost is great to add to flower beds, fruit trees or even indoor plants to add nutrients.

Everyone should be composting not only to feed their plants and gardens but also to help reduce the amount of waste going into local landfills. With the availability of products to make composting easy in addition to the ingredients to make awesome compost even easier to find makes composting something that anyone can do.

Why should we be composting?

Composting is a great way to give back to our little piece of earth. If we are successful with our efforts to reduce our global footprint then we are working toward a future for children and grandchildren to be able to grow their own food as well. Help out by doing your part to make the world a better place for future generations.

We googled for compost containers to be used in apartments or indoor.

If you would like to learn more about composting and other gardening topics, check out Backyard-eden.com!

Tellus Think Tank is happy to have the opportunity to connect with John and the very inspiring home page of Backyard-Eden.com and hope you might have been inspired to start your own compost!

Next week: Tellus Think Tank visits the city of Gothenburg and their unique take on autonomous cars – taking a different stance compared to the Google Car project.
Would you like to be notified when our next article is available, click here!

Thinking of down-sizing? Could you consider living in a sustainable Tiny Home on wheels? No014

2016-02-10 admin Leave a comment

Do you live a fulfilling life in the midst of the rush, the fumes of the city with high costs of living and

the need to commute to work or school? Do you ever wonder if life could be lived differently? From the 70’ies until today at least 200 people have had the same thoughts as you and moved to the small village of Skattungbyn in the rural district of Dalarna in Sweden.
Text: Domi, Tellus Think Tank. Photo: Agata Mazgaj, AnnVixen, Daniel Zetterström

My friend Agata and I often have long discussions on everything from sustainable living to Swedish media and Polish politics.

ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK…read

One day she told me about a Swedish blog she found on the theme of living in small quarters and in this way making as small a footprint on our planet as possible. Would this be a life for us? All of a sudden we are on a road trip to Skattungbyn in the Swedish district of Dalarna, tag along!

The view of the vastness of Orsa Finnmark from the village of Skattungbyn. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

Tiny homes on wheels in Skattungbyn

The roads are empty when we drive into Skattungbyn this sunny, frostbiten Saturday morning in January. We get to experience the village in sunlight as it clutches on to the hillside with a fantastic view over the nature of Orsa Finnmark. This at once feels like a harmonious place, a feeling that endures through our full visit!

In the village of Skattungbyn one can find a rather unique way of living, Tiny Homes on wheels. We have the privilege of meeting Markus Skoog, that some here would say personifies, thanks to his blog , “AttLevaDetLevandeLivet”, the Tiny Home dwellers.

The first Tiny Home in the village of Skattungbyn was built in the beginning of the 2000’s. There are currently 20 people living in Tiny Homes in the village and the word is spreading throughout both Sweden and the world.

The people that build their own Tiny Homes on wheels later seek permission from a landowner in the village and roll their home onto the designated part of the land. The rental agreements differ from situation to situation.

Also read the next article about Skattungbyn and the community there, it will be available next Thursday! Would you like to be notified, click here.

Why live in a Tiny Home on wheels?

Markus tells us that there are several reasons behind the Tiny Home residents in Skattungbyn:

Markus and Agata in the magic forrest of Flurlunar farm. Photo: AnnVixen

One reason is that Skattungbyn is a lovely place to live but it is difficult to find land to buy in the village.
Another reason is that living in a Tiny Home on wheels makes a very small dent on nature and a very small carbon footprint as the houses are not attached to the land and don’t use concrete. Living in a Tiny Home on wheels is easy and simple and a way to live an alternative life.
A third reason is that it is very cheap to live in a Tiny Home on wheels. Read more about costs below.

What I find the most interesting is the insight that it is possible to live so much cheaper than we currently do in the city, and it isn’t hard to come by this simpler life. Depending on how the perspective living simpler might even bring a higher quality of life? Ofcourse, there are pro’s and con’s connected to every way of living!

Living in a Tiny Home on wheels in Sweden compared to the American way

Swedish Tiny Homes on wheels are all about simple living. Photo: AnnVixen

The Swedish Tiny Homes on wheels differ a lot from the American Tiny Homes. Markus tells us that Tiny Homes in the US want to hold their distance from the trailer people and that they pretty much squeeze every comfort into their Tiny Homes, at almost any expense.

-The kitchen areas in the US Tiny Homes cost a fortune even though the size of the houses are very small. Also, every Tiny Home in the US has a toilet and a shower. They look like normal houses in a mini format.

The Swedish Tiny Homes on wheels are all about living simple.

Markus’s Tiny Home on wheels

Markus built his first Tiny Home on wheels and quickly sold it. During the

One of the beautiful wood stoves in the Tiny Homes on wheels. This specific one is not used for cooking. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

coming winter season he borrowed his friend Lorraia’s Tiny Home, which he smilingly describes as a “glorified tent” as the house was very badly insulated. The heating system consisted of a wood stove and when Markus came home late at night it would be so cold that he would have to be quick to light the wood stove fire, jump into his sleeping bag and fall asleep.

After a while he found that he could heat water on the wood stove and pour it into plastic bottles that he would snuggle into his sleeping bag to keep the heat during the night. After that particularly cold winter Markus felt a strong urge to build his own, well insulated home.

The day Agata and I visit Skattungbyn we read -17°c / 1,4°f and we understand how important insulation is in this climate!

Markus’ new house, designed with a “broken” gable roof like the cutest Astrid Lindgren cabin, is very well insulated! The Tiny Home on wheels was built in 2013 and it took Markus about two months to finish it to the point where he could actually move in. He didn’t have everything in place from the beginning, and finished bits and pieces when he could afford it. In the beginning, until he was able to afford indoor paneling, he dressed the walls with colourful cloths!

A Tiny Home on wheels, 17 square meters of living space, tin rood, organically insulated. Cost 80 000 kronor / 8 000 Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj — A Tiny Home on wheels, 17 square meters of living space plus a loft, tin roof, organically insulated. Cost 80 000 kronor / 8 000 Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

-It was lovely to finally get the panel in place, smiles Markus!

The cost for the Tiny Home on wheels initially added up to 50 000 kronor / 5 000 Euro. After having chosen to improve the quality of the house with a tin roof and some other comforts Markus estimates that he has paid about 80 000 kronor / 8000 Euro for his Tiny House on wheels.

-I chose not to equip the kitchen part with a drain but there is a kitchen bench and I have a large pitcher of water and a large bowl for kitchen use! says Markus!

Agata and I are invited into Markus “one roomed apartment”. It feels airy, warm and minimalistically decorated. On the right short side of the room we find a kitchen bench, in the middle of the room the wooden stove is crackling. By one of the windows we find a second heating source, an electrical heater, that works since Markus has electricity installed. At the other end of the room Markus has built a wooden sofa covered with mattresses. From the sofa we can just make out an almost hidden ladder leading up to a so called mezzanine loft, half storey loft. That is where Markus has installed his sleeping quarters, just under the roof.

Markus Tiny Home is 3.1 meters x 6.0 meters / 10 x 20 feet and it weighs about 6 tons. The height is 4.5 meters / 15 feet. The living space is 17 m² / 182 f² and the Home stands on wheels!

The house is properly insulated with old newspapers, that can be bought in large sacks at any local home depot. The

A Tiny Home on wheels, 15 square meters of living space, plus a loft. Cost 50 000 kronor / 5 000 Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

papers are put into a large mill and blown into the space between the columns of the walls of the house. The newspaper insulation works really well and is a much more sustainable alternative compared to Rockwool or such, says Markus that is a professional carpenter!

The Tiny Home, just like the other Tiny Homes in Skattungbyn, is built on boat trailer wagon structures or similar. Markus chose to build his Tiny Home on a two wheel wagon structure. Most Tiny Homes here are built without drains and toilets but have possibilities for cooking on the wooden stove.

Owners of the Tiny Homes on wheels can sign for a comprehensive household insurance allowing the Tiny Home to be moved twice during a year.

A Do-It-Yourself staircase. Cost: zero Kronor / Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

Markus has films on youtube, with soon above 60 000 views, on how to build his Tiny Home.

It is icy cold in Dalarna today and Agata and I have dressed accordingly but are still freezing when we move around the grounds to look at more Tiny Homes on wheels.

Costs of building Tiny Homes on wheels

Costs of the Swedish Tiny Homes on wheels differ depending on the type of material and the origins of the materials. Markus Tiny Home on wheels cost 80 000 kronor / 8 000 Euro. Flurlundargård, the farm that Markus house stands on, has another three tenants in Tiny Homes on wheels. The other houses have cost far less ranging from 4 000 kronor / 400 Euros to 50 000 kronor / 5 000 Euros. The Tiny Home with the lowest cost was one where all the wood was donated from a de-construction site, total cost of zero kronor / zero Euros.

Interested in running costs of life in a Tiny Home on wheels, read more in next week’s article, get a notification when it is available.

If Markus would have built his house today, what would he have done differently?

-I have a long list of improvements that should have been thought of! he laughs and tells us he would have built higher

A mezzanini sleeping loft provides more living space when living on 15 square meters. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

walls and a normal gable roof. He would also have built the house much smaller than 17 m² / 182 f² as the current house is a bit big for his personal needs and needs a tractor to move it! The current design places the wood stove in the middle of the room to match the aesthetically placed chimney, set in the middle of the roof. If he could re-do this he would have placed both the wood stove and chimney along one of the walls.

Living without running water and electricity in a Tiny Home on wheels

Markus has access to both electricity, a kitchen, a shower and fresh water in a tap system as he is camped on the land of and affiliated to the FrejaLinas collective, that locally goes under the name Flurlundar farm. He estimates that about half of the Tiny Home dwellers in Skattungbyn do not have direct access to either electricity or water.

-What, is it possible to live this way, I wonder curiously? How?

A sustainable outhouse by the edge of the woods. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

Without fresh water toilets
Markus says that most of the people that want to live in alternative ways in Skattungbyn have access to large plots of land and in some cases also to water toilets but they choose to build and use an outhouse.

A Tiny Home on wheels, 7 square meters of living space. All but the inner paneling was built with recycled material. Cost 10 000 Kronor / 1 000 Euro. Photo: AnnVixen

The sewage from a water toilet is difficult to clean and far from sustainable and

expensive for society.

An outhouse, composted in a correct manner, is transformed by bacteria to very good farming soil in just two years. The soil can be used as fertilizers to farmlands or tree- and bush cultivations.

Without fresh water
The Tiny Home dwellers of Skattungbyn have several possibilities to shower and even take a sauna. There is the “village sauna” at the cost of 10 kronor / 1 Euro per visit. The village also has a small sports auditorium that also provides a shower, for free. Markus tells me that several people who live

Markus is just about to take a winter bath! Photo: Daniel Zetterström

without direct access to water heat water on their wood stoves and wash with soap and towel at home. Water can be fetched from the snowy winter slopes or from many of the lakes and streams that run through the village during the summer.

Without electricity
Almost everyone in Skattungbyn has a smart phone and if they don’t have access to electricity in their home phones are charged at work or with battery chargers.

Electric lighting is replaced by gas lamps, battery lamps or oil lamps. The Tiny Homes are often solely heated by wood stoves. Cooking is also mainly performed on the specially designed wood stoves. Many Tiny Home dwellers are vegetarian or even vegan. Food that is cooked could be oatmeal porridge, lentils, soups or boiled

A Tiny Home on wheels, 7 square meters of living space. Cost 4 000 Kronor / 400 Euro. Photo: Agata Mazgaj

eggs.

Markus is more of a flexitarian, as he eats meat if someone invites him to it. The Flurundar farm collective however cook all their meals together and only cook vegetarian food.

Do you find that life in a Tiny Home on wheels differs quite a bit from other Western lives? Read more about the community of Skattungbyn next week. Do you want to be notified when the article is available, click here!

About Tellus Think Tank, Featured article

TellusThinkTank – The Opening! No001

2015-11-25 admin Leave a comment

November 2015: Welcome to the opening of TellusThinkTank – offering inspiration and best practises to increase the sustainability in lives and communities! by Domi 2015-11-11

The TellusThinkTank-team has been talking to many people lately. Subjects have been organic products, global warming and sustainability in production, sustainability in daily lives and communities. During our conversations the team has made several findings that hit us as strange or contradictory, and worth exploring!

2014-03-08-12.11.43-Tellus-metalkarta-e1447406382672-1024x685 — Photo: AnnVixen, 2014

The Global warming is a very large and almost mythical area, and we found an unexpected stance.“Global Warming is not an issue! The atmosphere would have been heated due to the natural processes of earth and not because of the doings of humans!” This stance is shared by persons we have spoken to in several countries, some say they want to believe, others say they choose to believe in this “truth”.

ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK….read more here

In contradiction media is reporting from United Nations meetings, from European Union meetings and from research- and scientist reports around the globe: “The nature of Earth and all species living here are in serious trouble due to the unnatural heating of our globe – as a result of mankind having emitted more carbon dioxide particles than our world can swallow in a natural way.”
If these reports are correct and the world we live in is in a fix, the team is wondering what is been done about saving Earth?

Others persons we have met are wondering if they can trust the organic branding of food and if it really is organic or if the branding is only used to increase profits.

Another interesting finding is that many of us don’t know what organic food really means. –“Why should I be buying organically marked food? A balanced diet will continue to help me get through life in a healthy way!”

Well, what does it mean when products, such as apples or chicken, are branded “organic”?

TellusThinkTank aims to answer these types of questions and will also be sharing sustainable innovations and ideas from around the globe. Our purpose is to inspire many more to move towards the future in more sustainable ways!

As TellusThinkTank is all about learning more about sustainable lives and communities and inspire more to follow best practises of the world the articles will be numbered so that the exploratory journey of TellusThinkTank will be easy to follow!

Please feel welcome to read “Is Earth doing alright? No002”.

Ps. Maybe you would like to share something sustainable that you have done or something sustainable that has excited you? Tell us at Tellus Think Tank if you do! Ds.

ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK….read more here

About Tellus Think Tank, Featured article

Number zero post

2015-08-20 admin Leave a comment

Amazingly nimble – TellusThinkTank takes off!

We just love being on air and welcome You to the start of a bustling, cross-cultural hive of idea exchange on sustainable living and sustainable communities and how to improve sustainability in both!

ABOUT TELLUS THINK TANK….read more here

We are looking forward to developing TellusThinkTank with You, so please send us your ideas and feedback,
and remember to sign up for the newsletter!

Best regards

The TellusThinkTank-team in Stockholm

For a Sustainable Future

Tag Archives: Life

Picture 100 autonomous self driving volvo cars on streets soon No020

What is the big deal with autonomous cars?

Is the car industry on track to making the future happen?

DriveMe is an autonomous car project run in cooperation between Volvo Cars, Gothenburg City, Swedish government agencies and Chalmers University of Technology

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Compost – the black gold of urban farming No019

Thinking of down-sizing? Could you consider living in a sustainable Tiny Home on wheels? No014

TellusThinkTank – The Opening! No001

Number zero post

Tellus Think Tank.com

What is the big deal with autonomous cars?

Is the car industry on track to making the future happen?

DriveMe is an autonomous car project run in cooperation between Volvo Cars, Gothenburg City, Swedish government agencies and Chalmers University of Technology

Multi-disciplinary traffic systems

Tellus Think Tank.com

A sustainable future - read more

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