Living Small....

But Well.

One noticeable change since we've moved to New Zealand: The amount of garbage we generate, and the amount of resources we consume have dramatically dropped. Part of this is because we're living in an apartment without a lot of space and no room for clutter. We are also car-less, which changes things dramatically. For instance, anything we buy needs to be carried from the store to our fourth floor apartment, so things like impulse purchases are thought over twice with the daunting task of hauling them. A bigger part is that people in New Zealand are just more careful with their resources. The appliances are smaller and more energy efficient; the bathrooms less wasteful; and the packaging is not as bulky. I don't think it's because New Zealanders are more "green", or have a deeper love for the environment than people back in the States. I think it's because people in New Zealand have to be more ecologically conscious for economic reasons. This is a relatively small island nation and anything that is not produced here has to be shipped in. This makes things such as gas and excess packaging expensive.

This is about how much garbage we produce in a day. It's way less than in St. Paul, it doesn't even require a garbage can.


Our refrigerator is half the size of our refrigerator back home. This is not only because we live in an apartment; people in New Zealand tend to have smaller more efficient appliances.


Believe it or not, this tiny little machine is both a washing machine and dryer. Luckily we didn't bring much clothing, so our laundry loads are small.


Most of the New Zealand toilets have two buttons, a full flush, and a half a flush. Interestedly, someone speculated that this feature has more to do with the toilets being made for Australia, a country that experiences water shortages, than it does with New Zealanders having to save water.



People in New Zealand, like people in the United States, love their cars. Gas here though is twice as expensive as in the United States, and parking downtown Auckland is similar to parking in Manhattan. Despite the expense and hassle, most people in New Zealand find driving a car to be worth the cost. I guess in this way they very much are like Americans.