Home Sweet Dumpster: How to Transform a Trash Bin Into a Sustainable Living Space

If one person's trash is another person's treasure, then it stands to reason that one person's trash receptacle is another person's idea of a cool place to live.

That's the case with Jeff Wilson, a dean and environmental science professor at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, who since February has been living in a 33-square-foot Dumpster on campus.

Let's be clear about something: Wilson was not homeless, nor did he need to find housing desperately when he moved into the Dumpster and spawned The Dumpster Project.

On the contrary, he was living in a "3,000-square-foot house full of Ikea furniture with four bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths," he said -- nearly any American's idea of a very comfortable place to live.

Wilson is living in the Dumpster by choice. He came up with the idea to transform a Dumpster into a residence two years ago to explore the idea of sustainable living in smaller spaces, and to understand what a human being really needs at home to feel comfortable, he told Design News. "It really came out of really wanting to spice up the conversation both in the classroom and general society about not only living on less but sustainability, education, and small houses," Wilson, in a slight southern drawl, told us in an interview.

Wilson is not a stranger to unconventional ideas that test the limits of the amount of things humans think they need to live comfortably. One of his early dates with his now-girlfriend Clara Bensen was to invite her on a travel journey from Istanbul to London with no baggage, wearing only the clothing they traveled in and taking only a very small amount of "necessary" items with them. (The story, as written by Bensen, consequently has been optioned to be turned into a Hollywood film.)

So living in a Dumpster he handpicked with help from some of his students may be unconventional for many, but for Wilson it is an extension of his own interest in forcing people to take a critical look at unnecessary consumption. "It really is designed to be an engaging idea -- taking this ultimate symbol of waste and turning it into a comfortable, sustainable home," he said.

Wilson said he has "a lot better life" since moving out of that house and into his Dumpster palace. "You think about all the things that happen when you compress your stuff," he said. "Right now with consumerism we're all 'stufficated' (with) all the time spent organizing, washing, moving that stuff around. That's all gone away."

Having a smaller house also forces people outside to interact with their community and nature, inspiring more potential for collaboration or creativity. It also reduces time spent on practicalities like cleaning and maintenance. "I can paint my entire interior faster than most people can clean their house," Wilson said.

Moreover, since the Dumpster is on the university campus, no longer does Wilson need to commute to campus in a car, saving time, money, and vehicle emissions. "My commute time has gone from 35 minutes to one minute and 35 seconds," he said.