FORMERLY MOBILE HOMES: While being homeless seems a lot more popular these days than one would hope, living in your car is never fun. It’s not a good solution to the problem of homelessness at all.

Unless, of course, you’re living in a home made out of recycled cars.

In a recent article in the environmental magazine Orion, Brian Doyle writes about little homes being constructed out of cars. Or the metal from recycled cars, anyway. The $100,000 to $250,000 homes can be made from the remains of about four to six cars and constructed in just 45 days by only five workers (Doyle says that normal homes, on average, require 225 days and 15 workers). The homes are said to be incredibly energy efficient, and, what’s more, termite proof.

The formerly-mobile homes are called Miranda homes, and they’re designed and built by a fellow named Roy Boydstun who specializes in building car carriers. The recession has caused a slip in demand for car carriers, forcing Boydstun to lay off four-hundred employees in two years. So Boydstun put his 20 years of experience in design to work, and came up with a house (just one so far) made out of recycled cars.

“You get an SUV house that drives like a Prius,” Boydstun told Boyle. “It costs a lot less to build, it costs a lot less in utility bills, it’s real hard to burn down, it uses up old cars, and it’ll last forever.”

Check out the article, “How to Live in Your Car,” online at www.orionmagazine.org. It’s a great read.