Tour a solar-powered tiny house, learn about grey water recycling and sample local food at the Tiny House Party on on Saturday, August 29.
The Tiny House Collective, Bridging the Gap and Epic Cleaning are hosting the event on the patio of Whole Foods, 7401 W. 91st. St., Overland Park, KS. The Tiny House Collective Kansas City, a non-profit community land trust, will display the 60-square-foot house to demonstrate living sustainably in a small space. The demonstration house is actually a tiny traveling office owned by Chuck Johnson of Overland Park. He uses it for camping with his family, but not as a full-time residence.
“The average tiny house is less than 450 square feet, however the tiny lifestyle and values aren’t just about the square footage of your home,” said Megan Covert, a Tiny House Collective founding member and community outreach coordinator. “The tiny movement is about living with less in order to have more. It’s about using the space you live in efficiently and sustainably. Anyone can live tiny, even in a house outside the parameters of what is considered tiny square footage.”
The organization is developing sustainable affordable housing in Kansas City’s urban core. The collective acquires land by donation or from the Missouri Land Bank. Then the group partners with NSPJ Architects to create the neighborhood design. Missouri Bank is providing financing options. Habitat for Humanity assisted in developing an application process, and volunteers build the houses.
“We focus on low-income, home-ownership programs that bolster community vitality by reclaiming abandoned property and creating artful pocket neighborhoods,” said Josh Farmer, Tiny House Collective president.
The event is free from 1 – 4 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 29. The first 100 guests will receive sample cleaning kits from locally owned Epic Cleaning Products. There will be free crafts for the kids and samples of food from local Kansas and Missouri vendors that sell in Whole Foods. For more information, check the event calendar at the Tiny House Collective.
