It seemed surreal to be standing in the middle of in an entire village made of marble. But these weren’t palaces or majals. The inhabitants of this marble village in Rajasthan, India are desperately poor and lack basic amenitites like running water and electricity in their homes. Traditionally nomads, these families chose to set up their homes in the middle of a dusty industrial zone so they could repurpose, re-use and upcycle the waste from an adjacent factory to build dwellings. I visited the village with I-India, a not-for-profit organisation in Rajasthan, India. The dedicated staff provide education and support to some of Rajasthan’s most desperate children, feeding 3000 kids a daily meal without which their bellies would remain painfully empty. I-India provides services to this area. I-India set up a school for this community, as there were no educational facilities available to them in the area. To see the basic facilities that these children learn in with such gratitude was so inspiring. Read about it HERE If you’d like to read about […] Read More
My partner James, AKA The Upcyclist, is building a Tiny House out of recycled materials, in collaboration with The Bower Reuse and Repair Centre in Marrickville, Sydney. The Tiny House movement, which has been growing throughout the USA for years, is emerging here in Australia. It is a response to high housing costs and a lifestyle of overconsumption, which can often lead to debt and dissatisfaction. The idea is to downsize your possessions in order to increase your quality of life, or as James puts it: Less House, More Life. Imagine a life without debt, in which your cost of living is so low that you can work less and have more free time to do the things that you are passionate about. This tiny house is a pilot project, a way of testing the interest in this concept amongst Sydneysiders. So far there has been much interest, not only passers by in Marrickville, but also The Sydney Morning Herald and other TV and print media outlets (details to follow). You can see the SMH article and a video including James and other local tiny housers HERE. The Upcyclist tiny house doesn’t contain all the usual inclusions of […] Read More
