LIFESTYLE | November 1st, 2019 6:10 PM

Tiny homes are the economically and ecologically friendly dwellings that allow you, your spouse, your three kids, your dog, your two cats, and your goldfish Larry to spend every waking hour in a space the size of an elevator. The miniscule domiciles are all the rage among Pinterest scrollers who love to like but can’t endure a fifteen-minute face-to-face encounter with a loved one, let alone live within fifty feet of another human being. While their interest is superficial, there are plenty of people who enjoy the ability to stand up from the sofa and only have to take a single step in order to reach the shower. Recently, these enthusiasts of miniature habitation have taken the tiny home fad to a new level that could only be reached by first-world citizens who must desperately find some focus for their underutilized survival instinct.

Jeffrey Faulks is a web developer in Cleveland and pioneer of the Tupperware house. He resides in a medium deep Freezer Mates Plus container that he bought online for $30. “It only keeps one foot dry when it rains,” Faulks says, “but it’s cheap and better for the environment, since you don’t have to worry about heating such a large area.” Faulks chose a plastic container for its durability, although he admits that glass would be more environmentally friendly.

For the house hunter on a budget, Gladware is a more economic solution. Lisa Mona found two Gladware freezer containers on Amazon for $9.99. “I’m able to keep both feet dry, which is a plus,” she says, “but they’re definitely not as flashy as some of the other containers in my neighborhood.”

If you’re looking for a more flexible option, you may want to wait before committing to a rigid container. Residential scientists are in the early stages of figuring out the logistics of Ziploc houses, which could render the more solid Tupperware and Gladware houses obsolete.