A Texas university professor is moving out of the 33-square-foot dumpster in which he has lived for most of the past year, although his nickname as “Professor Dumpster” may stick.
Dr. Jeff Wilson lived in the on-campus dumpster — which he outfitted with solar panels, air conditioning, a typewriter, and a bed — for about 250 nights. Sometimes, though, his students at Austin’s Huston-Tillotson University sometimes
spent a night there instead, KVUE reported.
Wilson, who teaches biological science, launched The Dumpster Project to raise student consciousness about what is necessary to live and to
promote sustainable living, according to his organization’s website. For instance, the average home in America is 2,480-square-feet, while the dumpster was just 33-square-feet. The project hoped to reach beyond college students, providing curriculum ideas for younger students.
“The Dumpster Project invites learners of all ages to rethink sustainability through the quirky task of turning a dumpster into a home,” the website said. “As we investigate the impacts of modern life, we will learn how a happy healthy (dumpster) home can help us have a happy healthy planet. The playful and imaginative tone of the Dumpster Project is integral to our educational mission.”
Now that the professor has vacated his dumpster home, the organization has launched a Dumpster Home School project, where educators can spend a night in the dumpster. The first to take advantage of dumpster diving for educational purposes was Blackshear Elementary Fine Arts Academy Principal Betty Jenkins, according to Wilson’s Instagram post.
The visiting teachers may learn the same lesson that Wilson did.
"Having less stuff equals less noise in your life, which
equals more moments,” he told Austin’s TWC News. “You just have so much more moments in life."
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