Austin, TX is having another great day in the land of Environmentalism. The progressive city has given rise to a new research experiment by Huston Tillotson professor who is seeking to raise awareness on sustainability in some very trashy way.
What if you had the chance to live in a garbage dumpster for an entire calendar year? Would you politely decline or would you have the courage and audacity to think that it is possible. Professor, Dr. Jeff Wilson is a Harvard and Canterbury educated environmental professor who thought it was possible.
This year he proclaimed that he would live in this garbage can to the best of his ability for one calendar year. In preparation the professor announced to the world via Facebook of his mission plan, and then proceeded to sell all of his personal belongings for a single dollar. Now that is what one can safely call a true renunciation.
The environmental professor wants this project of his to prove something, that we can all afford to live in smaller more manageable homes. All the excess and splendor that is normally fantasized in movies is not a necessity. On the other hand it’s one of the reasons that we are killing our Earth and one of the reasons why there is such a large disproportionate between the rich and the poor.
Dr. Jeff Wilson doesn’t want to stop with just living in a trash bin, he wants there to be several phases for the mini home. He essentially wants the home to be transformed into something that is genuinely livable and any other homeless person could jump in and enjoy a quality life. In order for that to happen and the home to be fully functional, Dr. Wilson is prepared to use the best minds of design in order to get the bin where it needs to be.
The first phase includes in-stalling a shower, a place to cook like a kitchen, somewhere to sleep like a bed, and finally a toilet. Even trash bin-living professors have to use the restroom, preferably not on the streets of Austin.
The looney Austinite also has plans to continue to evolve the trash bin home. So much so to the point where it is just as livable at 300 sq. feet, roughly 1% of the average American home, as any other fully functioning home in the United States. The environmental professor plans on installing energy-efficient bulbs, energy-producing toilets (if you can imagine that) and insulation that is made with nano-sized particles or nano-insulation. For water Dr. Jeff Wilson will go out to neighboring Lady Bird Lake and retrieve water. He will then proceed to filter and sanitize the water so that it is drinkable and capable of using it as regular filtered faucet water.
How does someone come up with an idea like this, you might ask? Well, Dr. Jeff Wilson was at Starbucks two years ago reading over papers when the thought of “garbage living” popped into his head. There is no denying that Austin has a large homeless population and with the inspiration Dr. Jeff Wilson began his journey into what would be become something quite novel.
He started off with moving into his University office so that he could take snail steps in getting to the final show piece. Then the time came and now he’s in the can for good or at least until it’s no longer “just as garbage bin” and something completely incredible and self-sustaining.
Once his full calendar year is up and his new home has been retro-fitted with every piece of progressive technology you can think of, he will begin traveling country wide. Almost like Bill Nye the Science Guy but with an Austinite flair to him. Look out in your nearest city for this ingenious man and his environmental metal home that will change the way America looks at sustainable living.
If you want to follow this man’s retrogression of modern life you can do so at Dumpster Project.
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