Dumpster Diving

While in Austin a few weeks ago, we visited a friend of Rick's at his...errr...home.  Jeff Wilson knows Rick from undergrad and is an environmental science professor and the dean of Huston-Tillotson College.

A few months ago, he moved out of his typical comfortable American living accommodations and moved into a 33 square foot dumpster, housed on the Huston-Tillotson College.

That's right.

Jeff is living in a dumpster for a year, a space that is 1% of the average American home size.  His point is that we use and want too much in this country.  He and his students are spending the year researching sustainable ways to live in his smaller environment and tackling basic needs like clean water and waste reduction.

Palmer was very impressed with the "convertible roof" in the dumpster and promptly told Rick and I that he would also like to a dumpster in his backyard so he could live like Oscar the Grouch.

Professor Wilson's hope is to get a larger audience talking about the concept of living with less.  If you want to learn more, check out his website here or follow Professor Dumpster on Instagram.

-Bethany