This theme is part of the Community Center Festival of Sustainability
The original topic was posted in the Spanish-speaking Community Center by @Erwin-Romรกn0 , and we have translated it below.
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When I was offered two 40-foot containers at an unusual discount, a project was born โ a project that from time to time would niggle at the back of my mind like any other dream.
Everything came together to make it happen: land, ease of assembly, the proximity of the containers, my knowledge as a set designer, and a team with creativity and experience (my children).
In addition to the conceptual design, which I had ready in 20 days,
the most important thing was the possibility to recycle and substantially reduce polluting materials. Cement, concrete, brick, rods, etc. In line with our environmental ethos, we got some heavy-duty crates to line and decorate some of the interior walls.
For the construction, 14 piles were cast with levellers, where we anchored a container and split it in two to form the ground floor, while the other was crossed over to create the first floor.
By cutting on some sides and adding on others, we created two 50 m2 (538 sq. ft.) flats.
One space has a cabin-like atmosphere with lots of wood โ courtesy of the wooden crates โ and the other is more industrial in style with exposed electrical installations and decor like gauges and clocks.
The construction was going well; the first flat was ready in 35 days! However, there were a couple of things that did trip us up.
First, in our enthusiasm to see the project take shape, we forgot that the town planning office existed.
One flat is now rented full-time, and the other is split between family and tourism thanks to my experience with Airbnb, which I'd used for my own holidays for a long time.
In keeping with the idea of sustainability, I set up a small chicken coop and three plots for my organic vegetable garden. As well as the house, I can also use the 30 m2 (323 sq. ft.) space to sell eggs and fresh vegetables to guests who visit us.
Two other areas we're leveraging have to do with recycling.
The town runs a programme for the use of organic waste, which it collects on different days of the week โ alternating with the rubbish โ and, in the complex where we live, I've set up a space to store the recycling, as well as promoting a culture of separating waste at the source with the co-owners. The material is collected and sorted, and then periodically handed over to a waste pickers' cooperative.
And this is where our guests come in: we encourage them to do their bit for the planet. We've got a small bin on the kitchen counter for organic waste, a conventional bin for non-usable waste, and a larger bin outside the flat for everything that's recyclable.
We started the project in November last year, and every day we learn something new from our guests, who help us come up with new ideas โ there's still a long way to go.
We'll always be focused on minimising our impact on the environment!
