Mini Cars for Mini Homes

Posted by sunlight on Wednesday, 5 of March , 2008 at 4:05 pm

I am an advocate of smaller homes for a number of reasons and the single most important “pressure point” when building green and sustainable homes is home size. You can build a new home with every green bell and whistle available, but if the house-to-occupant ratio is too large it defeats the goal of building green.
In a prior post I talked about the white-wash of green building. Building a sustainable and green mega mansion is a contradiction in terms. Having gone through the downsizing exercise moving to the home we are currently living in, I have come to realize how many benefits come from keeping the size down. I have been more than pleasantly pleased with all the benefits that have accrued to us by building small and green.
My wife Margie took all this to the next step a few months ago when she decided to do the same thing with her car. She already had a modest-sized car but she took it one step further by getting a Mini Cooper. I have to say that I had never really paid any attention to a Mini and I figured a car that small must be boring to drive! To me the Minis were just cute toys. But Margie was on a mission and took me with her for a test drive. The Mini is much roomier than I expected, even for my 6 foot frame. I was surprised. The hatchback style also made it practical. So we took off on a test drive and at some point she said, “Goose it!” What followed were grins and lots of laughing. It was really fun to drive!
Hummmmm, small, great gas mileage (36mpg) and fun to drive. End of story. We got rid of our other cars and now are a two Mini family! They are still gas powered, but I think that we have a long way to go before our transportation is what it should be (electric cars powered by solar power). Small, efficient cars are a step in the right direction. The Europeans have known this for decades and their cars and homes are tiny compared to US standards. There are a number of other small, very energy efficient cars on the market. The most notable is the Smart Car which is even smaller than our Minis (but not as cute or fun to drive).
So now instead of just saying “Build green” I will be adding, “and drive small.”

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Category: Passive Solar

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