TinyFest Texas

Tour tiny houses, van conversions, skoolies, backyard cottages (ADUs), shipping container home, adventure rigs and more! There were builders and people who were living and traveling tiny every day at TinyFest Austin 2021. As part of the festival, there were several hands-on workshops, speaker presentations, Q & A Sessions and Panel Discussions to answer common questions and “tiny” hurdles.

Pioneer Farms

TinyFest Texas was held Sep 25th – 26th, 2021 in Austin, TX. The festival was located at Pioneer Farms and hosted by TinyFest Events. Pioneer Farms is a 90-acre living history museum depicting life in 1800s Texas, with five restored historic sites and a village. The property also conducts pioneer life skills like glass blowing, blacksmithing, weaving, and carpentry just to name a few!

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Fort Worth Botanic Garden

I travelled to Fort Worth for a friend’s wedding in September. Before their wedding, I made plans to finally visit the Fort Worth Botanic Garden!

I was thoroughly impressed with the gardens, especially their educational features and event-friendly spaces! Check out the City of Fort Worth’s garden tour video below.

BRIT and Garden Front Entrance

“The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) is an international scientific research and learning center focused on plant conservation and knowledge sharing.” – Facebook

I’ve followed BRIT for years regarding their latest research. I even applied for a marketing position with them a few years into my conservation career path.

Wasn’t able to go inside because of weekend hours, but it was still cool to see the outside — which featured a green, living roof and an a web of cables for training foliage upwards on exterior walls!

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Taylor’s Vermiculture Background


My vermiculture adventure started in November 2018 a couple months after I returned to Texas from my eco-road trip . Having spent the previous seven months up at an intentional community in Oregon, I wanted to continue my greener living with something easy I could do.

I saw a DIY worm bin class advertised online with the Texas Worm Ranch, and figured it might be interesting. Little did I know how big these little guys would become in my life after I got my first worm bin going!

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Take Care of Texas Works

Take Care of Texas is a statewide campaign from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that provides helpful information on Texas’ successes in environmental protection and encourages all Texans to help keep our air and water clean, conserve water and energy, reduce waste, and save a little money in the process!

Take Care of Texas Overview

I’ve outlined major highlights below in my role with the Take Care of Texas (TCOT) program. These sections include samples of my work ranging from graphical work to written blog content and more! I’ve also included my experiences with other program initiatives.


Program Revamp

Shortly after joining the program, a new logo was implemented for TCEQ as well as the TCOT program.

Using my background in marketing, I helped steer the program into a new branding direction with the team. This also included updating our style guide, branded content, and other initiative logos – like our Proud Partner Logo.

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Famous People Taylor Has Met

Here’s a list of famous people (and locally famous icons) I’ve met along my way in life. They are all some how related through either my eco-travels, my conservation career, or my general eco-interests. Most of these people I’ve met while in Texas, which goes to show there’s a growing interest in eco-thinking in Texas.

I’ve included a brief bio and how I’ve met each person. I also included a video of each person for better context. (You might not consider some of these people to be famous, but they are well-know in local movements.)

Famous Person: Marty Raney

Homestead Builder, Master Stone Mason, Hunter & Mountain Guide

Marty Raney does the teaching and travels helping other homesteaders learn the ways. He is often joined by daughter Misty who is a good carpenter and a farmer and son Matt a proficient hunter. Their journey is chronicled on the Discovery show “Homestead Rescue.”

Marty was who I was most excited to see at the Mother Earth News Fair! I’ve watched nearly all of his Homestead Rescue episodes. He’s an inspiration for another way to live, while also making homesteading popular on TV.

Marty talks about how he made a life in Alaska.
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