Texas professor living in dumpster for science: 'My life is a lot better now'

An Austin professor spent the better part of 2014 living minimally in a space that's not as trashy as it sounds: a dumpster. Take a tour of his unconventional, eclectic home. An Austin professor spent the better part of 2014 living minimally in a space that's not as trashy as it sounds: a dumpster. Take a tour of his unconventional, eclectic home. Photo: Sarah Natsumi Moore, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Sarah Natsumi Moore, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 69 Caption Close Texas professor living in dumpster for science: 'My life is a lot better now' 1 / 69 Back to Gallery

An Austin professor has spent the better part of 2014 living minimally in a space that's not as trashy as it sounds: a dumpster.

The Dumpster Project — an ongoing project spearheaded by Jeffrey Wilson, an associate professor of biological sciences and dean of the University College at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin – aims to see how humans can live in a comfortable but environmentally sustainable fashion.

"If you think about just moving to a smaller space and having less stuff, it creates some voids or spaces in your life that you can fill up with more meaningful stuff, meaningful experiences," said Wilson, who has been nicknamed "Professor Dumpster."

The project began in February when Wilson retrofitted the 36-square-foot dumpster into his own minimalist living space with the aim of seeing how humans can minimize physical possessions reduce their energy and water use along with their waste production yet live comfortably.

Wilson said he spends at least five nights a week in the dumpster. Other nights, students and couch surfers lounge in the space.

Students use installed sensors to track data such as CO2 levels and temperature to determine how to adjust conditions to human needs.

Wilson said he plans to expand the project in February with a second dumpster. The professor plans to experiment with solar power and energy generated by a bicycle.

He also plans to dump his Volvo for a bicycle come February.

But Wilson, now 10 months into the experiment, said he finds living with less has improved his life: for example, because the dumpster is located on the Huston-Tillotson University campus in East Austin, he has managed to significantly cut down his commute time and avoid the maddening Austin gridlock.

"That's actually been the most surprising aspect of the project is that my life's actually a lot better now than before we started the project," Wilson said.

Wilson continued, "The thing that happens when you move into a bit of a smaller state is that you spend more time out in society and out in the community and interacting with people."

jfechter@mysa.com

Twitter: @JFreports