Many of you might be familiar with my Coming Unmoored Blog posts on tiny houses and sustainable housing. This week I thought that I would mix it up a little and cover some topics related to small space living.

Obviously, if you are trying to decide on your appliances for a tiny house, it is key to start paring down the big things.  Things like full sized washer dryers and massive refrigerators are simply going to take up too much space and will need to go by the wayside. (Yes, if you have a grand piano, you very likely might need to say goodbye and take up a smaller instrument!)

In keeping with this theme, a company called The Laundry Alternative, based in Middletown Springs Vermont, has come out with a very tiny and also very green approach to doing laundry in small spaces.   The Laundry Alternative is selling their Wonderwash washing machine for only $42.95. This gadget, which you can basically fit on a countertop, claims to easily cleans a 5 lb load of laundry in just a few minutes.. and with no electricity.  Thus, not only are you reducing space, but the amount of energy necessary to do laundry is also dramatically reduced.

The Wonderwash measures about 12″ x 12″ x “16, and has a patented pressure system. What happens is that detergent is forced into the fabric at a very high speed. You simply add hot water to the Wonder Wash and the air inside the drum expands from the heat. The high level of pressure is created as a result. In the process, the machine also uses 90% less water and detergent. The Laundry Alternative makes the assertion that this device pays for itself through your savings after only 8 weeks.

The Wonderwash is being marketed to a crowd that includes college students, rv owners, environmentalists, singles and frugal people. And their logic definitely makes sense. If you are trying to reduce your power consumption or if you are just one person doing  laundry for yourself, the standard sized washer and dryers are indeed excessive.

The company also makes an energy efficient and compact Spin dryer as well.

I’ve long had a tendency to collect gadgets like a magpie does shiny things to feather its nest. I blame it on my PhD engineer father who got me hooked on tech at an early age.

I’ve actually been quite proud of myself slowing down in my acquisition of bright, shiny, new tech-toys in the last few years. I’ve resisted the siren call of the Blackberry. My Mac laptop is more than two years old and has a seriously warped case from being dropped more than once during stormchasing (well, to be technical, during the running away from tornadoes that got too close). And I dumped the flatscreen TV several months back when I realized the only purpose it was serving was to justify the presence of the cable box that was Rumi’s favorite place to sleep on cold winter days.

But the Amazon Kindle was pure lust at first sight for me. So, when I seriously downsized my book collection I didn’t feel too guilty about using some of the trade-in cash to buy one.

The appeal of the Kindle for me doesn’t have that much to do with the packaging. While I love the rotating, wood-cut style artwork on the screensaver, I think Amazon has a way to go in both aesthetics and ergonomics. (The “clip” to hold the Kindle inside its cover has given me no end of headaches.) But with their electronic paper, Amazon has come up with the first eBook reader for which I’m willing to forgo the kinesthetic pleasure of flipping and scrawling on the pages of a book. It’s easy on my eyes and not a battery hog.

I travel enough that I love the thought any device that allows me to carry 200 or so books in a compact space and under a pound. And should I actually run out of reading material mid-trip–horror of horrors–I can simply download something new to read rather than dive into the nearest airport newsstand and select from the lesser of evils.

Charlie is another gadget freak. He keeps peering over my shoulder at my new toy. But, so far, he’s resisted the urge to get his own because he hates the fact he’d be required to “turn off” his book during take-off and landings. I figure that’s when I get to enjoy my trashy magazine (another vice of mine at airports) or make time to actually meditate for a couple of minutes.

A bigger negative for me where the Kindle is concerned is that I’d say roughly half the books I would like to read aren’t available on it yet. Right now Amazon seems to be focusing mainly on hardcover and popular releases. Most of those run $9.99 a book, which means they’re also more expensive that if I were to buy them used and ship them media rate. (Although, on the plus side, it also means I’m not adding weight and taking up space with a new title in my floating home.) Perhaps the biggest downside for me is that I like to share my books with friends, and that’s not easy to do with the Kindle unless I loan them the unit and that ain’t happening.

But, despite the downsides, I’m really enjoying being able to throw the equivalent of a small library in my purse in case I end up having to wait somewhere. I’m actually started to make some progress on my pile of “to be read” books. Even though I’m in the process of streamlining my life, this is one gadget I don’t regret buying.