You could write a dissertation about how crowded and crammed Hawai'i has become.

Housing developments sprout like weeds over former prime ag land.

New roads are obsolete even before they're finished.

Prisons, hospital ERs and "wilderness" hiking trails are all crammed with people.

And while it's hard for folks to find space for their physical bodies, that doesn't seem to stop anyone from amassing an astounding amount of stuff.

Live in a house so small you can't even fit a toothbrush on the bathroom counter? Don't let that hold you back. Rent some empty space. Air-conditioned and everything. That extra love seat need never suffer a hot afternoon.

A generation ago, the idea of having to pay a monthly fee to house anything smaller than a boat or horse was so wasteful and silly. Why would you buy something you didn't have room to keep? (And most backyards could handle a boat or a horse, anyway.)

When self-storage units first started popping up in earnest in the 1980s, they were meant mostly for members of the military to keep their personal items while on deployment.

But now, they're for everyone and everything. Climate-controlled. Imagine that. Most houses here don't even have that luxury.

According to a 20-year old Advertiser article, the first such facility in Hawai'i was opened in the former Libby's cannery warehouse in Kalihi in 1975. It was called "The Spare Closet."

In the 1980s, the industry was commonly called "mini-storage." Again, a reference to a small space where you could keep your few little extras.

In the mid-1990s, you could rent a 4-by-5 foot unit for $35 a month. There were smaller units available, sizes not much bigger than a bank safety deposit box.

Now, nobody says "mini" because nobody wants "mini," and the going rate for a 5-by-5 unit is $146 a month. A large unit, about 10-by-30, will cost you more than $700 a month.

In Hawai'i Kai, the new storage rental facility that is anything but "mini" actually has ocean and marina views. Well, it would if it had windows.

In town, the new Public Storage facility on Kapi'olani Boulevard at Kamake'e, touted as the largest in the state, is six stories high.

The listing of storage spaces and corresponding ads in the phone book cover 16 yellow pages, not including those aforementioned new megaplexes in Hawai'i Kai and in town.

Even homeless folks have a surprising amount of stuff. The requests for help from government and charities ask for more than a place to "rest their heads." They want lockable lockers to "keep their possessions."

So has all this off-side storage of household items made for more space at home and cleaner garages? Yeah, right. There's just more stuff at home, too.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.