Ducerf Groupe x Fanny Moritz
Meet Fanny Moritz, zero waste specialist and self-builder of her own tiny house (among other things ;) ) to find out more about her background, her inspirations and above all her life project!
For several years, Fanny was a speaker and consultant for major companies on the theme of ecology and zero waste, an activity that she put on hold in 2020 in order to implement a great life project! To live up to her principles and reduce her carbon footprint even further, she threw herself heart and soul into building her own tiny house. She shares this project on a daily basis with her community on social networks and at events, with the aim of raising awareness of the need to reduce our carbon footprint through her experience, in order to meet the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow. Through her experience, she explains how and why to consume less and better, and how this can also help you to have more time for yourself, a great programme :)
An atypical career
Formerly an IT enthusiast and freelance website developer, she had the opportunity to move to Hong Kong in 2011, where she lived for almost 10 years.
While there, something clicked when she discovered the work of Bea Johnson, a French blogger and speaker specialising in the zero waste lifestyle. After reading her book "Le Zéro déchet, comment j'ai réalisé 40 % d'économie en réduisant mes déchets à moins de 1 litre par an ! » Fanny became aware of the effects of over-consumption and waste . And so she decided that from now on she would devote her time and energy to leading a simpler life, to consuming less and better, and to sharing her experience with the people around her, and even more!
In 2017, still in Hong Kong, she decided to open an e-commerce site for reusable ecological products, an initiative that enabled her to develop a parallel activity as a speaker and to run workshops for major companies. The result? In two years, she gave no fewer than 80 talks to hundreds of employees.
Two years later, she realised that the phenomenon of over-consumption was still present, even in her business of selling reusable products, because these behaviours were deeply rooted in our habits. So she decided to concentrate on raising awareness, and also decided to return to France, as life in Hong Kong was no longer in line with her principles (lots of imports, for example).
A Tiny House project using materials from local resources
On her return to France during COVID period, she came across photos of tiny houses and thought the idea was "really cool".
What's a Tiny House? A Tiny House is a micro house with a number of distinctive features: it's mobile, and can be towed on the road by a 4×4, a tractor or a large van; it's eco-friendly, with an artisanal manufacturing process that respects the environment and uses recyclable materials; and it's sustainable, with the same construction and insulation as a traditional wooden house.
The arrival of COVID and the cessation of her lecturing activities gave her the opportunity to start thinking about the project. On the advice of a friend and by doing a lot of research, particularly on YouTube, calling professionals (e.g. Cahute) and meeting self-builders, she had everything she needed to get started!
During her research for partners, this project struck a chord with a lot of people and companies like ours.
The environmental impact was paramount in the choice of products and materials, which had to comply with certain constraints, in particular a low carbon footprint and also a price and weight factor, as the tiny house must not weigh more than 3.5T to comply with regulations.
The interior of the tiny house will be inspired by Balinese houses, her favorite island.
This challenging project, on both the technical and human levels, has enabled her to learn a great deal about herself. Questioning herself has taught her a lot about patience, overcoming obstacles and determination.
THT poplar wood cladding, light and durable
Poplar is a fast-growing local species widely used in France, and is also known for its lightness.
This species is made durable by a 100% natural high-temperature treatment (THT), which makes it more resistant to insects and fungi, and gives it greater dimensional stability. From an aesthetic point of view, high-temperature-treated poplar offers a warm, contemporary colour that will evolve towards a natural patina in very homogeneous shades of grey.
What's plan next ?!
Fanny is now going to focus on completing the tiny house, which still has around 6 months to go, mainly on the interior.
What motivates her to finish her project is to find a place where she can put down roots and feel at home, to live in line with her aspirations with the smallest possible carbon footprint.
Although designed to be rarely moved, Fanny Moritz is in the process of concocting a Slow Tiny Tour, which would take place over a 2-year period between April and September, always with this awareness-raising dynamic in mind, in order to meet French people and partners with 2 objectives:
- To raise awareness among the general public about reducing our carbon footprint through public conferences, Do It Yourself workshops (e.g. making cleaning products), visits to the tiny, etc.
- And for local authorities and elected representatives, to raise awareness of light housing and its benefits in terms of land use planning, to ensure that town planning regulations are changed in favour of this type of housing (which is also a constraint on independent living).
She's also working on publishing a book in which she'll tell us everything, about building a tiny house: the stages, the choices to be made, taking into account economic, ecological and technical factors, particularly the total weight (limited to 3.5T), to inspire and guide future builders.
