Renting makes it hard to live simple...

[Tussiemussies]

We'be always lived in our own home where little by little I had incorporated SL lifestyle choices into where we were living. We will have lived in this rental for four years this coming fall and for me I have found it to be such a detriment to the SL lifestyle I had put together that I'm really looking forward to moving into our own place again. The things I am not able to do here are:

Hang out laundry
Have a veggie garden -- there is no place to container garden
Do any composting --although I wasn't doing this before I'm now ready to purchase a barrel or two
Use plastic bowl covers that I would wash hang on a little clothesline that was extractbile over the sink
Start my own seeds for a garden

I guess from typing this out it makes me realize that spring and summer are the times I am more at a loss...I really like this house but will be glad to be able to do the things I feel are important when we get our own home...

[Zoebird]

A lot of that can be done at a near-by community garden, if you can find one.

I used to live in a condo where the HOA would not allow me to do those things in our little patio/yard, so I got creative.

First, the local community garden would allow me to compost. I would keep my compost in a bucket and take it to the pile 2x a week. I kept the bucket in the house under the sink, and it wasn't a problem. I could have done Bokashi too, but I didn't know about it then.

Second, I would do seedlings for the community garden in the window. I was lucky that I had a big window that I could put a table in front of (pretty narrow table) that I got at good will for next to nothing. I painted the legs and then put a table cloth over it, and then I would use all kinds of old china and silver as the bases for the little seedlings and small plants that I would create.

I also had a friend who had a garden, so I was allowed to take seedlings there, too, and garden with her.

Third, I would line-dry in my house in front of my largest window (facing south), which is something the HOA had no control over. It was our big sliding glass door, and a friend if mine helped me create a large, X-shaped foldable structure that then could be stretched across my window and could hold a good amount of clothing. I would put towels beneath it, and it would dry things pretty quickly. I would also put it in my bathroom tub, but it would get dark/moist in there, so it wasn't great.

[artist]

Does your community do alotments? We have a fairly large community garden here in our city. Personally I found simple living easier in my old apartment than I do in our own home. We've been here for 10 years and it's much harder here. We will mostly likely retire to a rental.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Hang out laundry
Have a veggie garden -- there is no place to container garden
Do any composting --although I wasn't doing this before I'm now ready to purchase a barrel or two
Use plastic bowl covers that I would wash hang on a little clothesline that was extractbile over the sink
Start my own seeds for a garden

This is not some stuff that is universally true of renting or anything, no blanket can statement can be made about renting even as regards to apartments.

- For instance my apartment building has a clotheline outside! There is also always the possibility of hanging clothes indoors though your mileage may vary on that one (I wouldn't do it in an extremely humid climate).
- I also do have space outside to container garden, though obviously it's not the same as a plot of land. But I've grown tomatos KWIM, not a small plant. Sure land is to be desired but ...
- I don't even think the not doing any composting thing is necessarily true, having some outside space it probably is doable (ha see if the landlord complains ). But suffice to say I do know some renters who do it (even in this building it seems with a homemade compost bin). There are also things like worm composting that can be done indoors and in small spaces I think (hmm if you can live with worms yes).
- Seeds can be started indoors (in fact generally are for cold climates and even not so cold ones). You just need grow lights which is how seed starting is generally done.

[Spartana]

Personally I found simple living easier in my old apartment than I do in our own home. We've been here for 10 years and it's much harder here. We will mostly likely retire to a rental.

Me too. When I owned a home it seemed like ALL my free time was spent doing chores, repairs and maintenance on the place - and lets not even talk about the cost of those things as well as the environmental costs! As Jennipurr said, by looking at the things that DON'T have to done anymore - like mow, weed, paint, repair, etc... - you can see that a simple life is still being had. My personal version of simple living (freedom from having to do stuff :-)!) works way better in a tiny apt than a house!

For the OP I would recommend a community garden in your area, and you can often do inside line drying. Ikea has indoor clotheslines (wire racks to hang clothes on) so for small loads that might work. You can also try vermaiculture (worms for composting) under your kitchen sink and container gardening if you have a patio.

[Tussiemussies]

Thanks to everyone for your replies and suggestions. For me I only feel comfortable in a home that is ours and some of suggestions wouldn't apply here. If my landlady ever found out I had a worm bin she would be quite upset. No outdoor patio for container gardening and I have very larger loads of laundry so house drying isn't possible. I'm just waiting for next year until we have our own place again! Thanks for letting me vent! Christine

[domestic goddess]

I never really found renting to e a problem, we just incorporated that into our "wish list" when looking. I always kept a small bottle rack by the kitchen sink for letting bowl covers and plastic baggies dry. There are also these little plastic hangers that will allow you to hang small things like bowl covers.I know...plastic, ewwww. But my mom is the queen of those things, so I could get them for free whenever I needed one.She still buys them, and they sit unused in her house , but "you never know when you might need one". I can't answer much to the gardening issue, as I was always able to grow at least a few herbs in a container. I think there are ways to do most things, but you have to think outside the box, and you will have to sacrifice some other things. You can still live simply, though. But you might have to expand your definition of "simply".

[Miss Cellane]

You know, there are people who own their own homes who can't line dry outside, or plant a garden, or compost. People in condos are limited in what they can do, as are people who live in HOA areas. It's not so much that you are renting, but where you are renting and what your landlord will let you do.

Why can't you put a clothesline over the sink? If you can hang pictures, you could install the clothesline. Or do what I do for baggies--stick some wooden spoons in the dish drainer and hang the baggies/plastic covers on the handles until they are dry.

Depending on the humidity where you live, you can hang things to dry inside. Put clothes on hangers and hang them off curtain rods or the shower curtain rod. Small things can go on those foldable clothes dryers. You might be able to rig a clothesline over the bathtub. I can dry inside during the winter, because the house is very dry. In the summer, the humidity gets to over 85% and stays there, so I have to use the dryer--right in the middle of prime line-drying season!

Some apartments I've rented have allowed me to plant things in a small patch in the backyard--not acres of veggies, but a few tomato plants and some herbs and things. I've also been able to compost at two different apartments.

I don't know if you are renting a house or an apartment, but apartments come with some invisible simple living traits attached. Many housing units in one place means less energy used to create each housing unit. Fewer materials used overall, as there is shared plumbing and wiring and other infrastructure.

If you want to garden, but can't, there are community gardens. Or check out any local CSAs--some of them let you volunteer hours of work instead of paying them money for the produce.

If that won't work, then reverse your thinking. You can't garden--that gives you an opportunity to support local organic farmers. Seek them out and buy their produce, knowing that you are helping a local small business stay afloat.

I move a lot. Sometimes you can maintain the same lifestyle; sometimes you can't. But do remember that there is no single definition of simple living. If you are planning on moving again, make a list of what is important to you and seek out a place that will let you do those things.

[danna]

Hi there
Not a big one, but I dry my covers and baggies etc. on the frigde door by putting a fridge magnet on the inside of the bag/cover.

Agree with above with the rack drying really good in the winter when the place is getting dry from the forced air heat
and in the summer when the A/C is running but, I don't do it in the spring/fall it gets too humid.

[Mrs-M]

As challenging and difficult as it may be, Tussie, don't allow renting, to get you down or prompt you to give up. How about a wooden drying rack? Even though I have a clothesline, I still use a wooden drying rack. In fact, I use my wooden drying rack more than the clothesline, because from fall through till spring, it's too cold outside to hang washing, so my wooden drying gets lots of use.

As far as composting goes, that is a hard one. Composting is messy, smelly, and heavy.

Re: plastic bowl covers/baggies, before I had my wooden drying rack and needed a place to dry the babies rubber pants, I'd do what Miss Cellane did, and hang a couple of regular wire hangers from the shower rod in the bathroom, and pin the pants to the hangers. This was during the colder months when plastic things couldn't be hung outdoors. Worked like a charm.