13 Feb Fishbowl Science and Community Building: The Dumpster Project

I went to the Dumpster Warming party with my son last night and we met the impressive Green is the New Black team from Huston-Tilliotson University. Energized, passionate and articulate, the students and their brave/adventurous/crazy/committed/visionary professor Professor (and Dean) Jeff Wilson are the instigators behind this high-profile Dumpster Project. This living (literally) laboratory features said professor living in a 33-square foot recycled Texas Disposal Systems dumpster overlooking downtown Austin for an entire year.

His first nights were a bit like cold-weather camping as he bedded down on some cardboard inside the dumpster in a sleeping bag rated for sub-zero temperatures. Over the course of the year, various improvements to the dumpster will made making the dwelling progressively more functional and high tech like: adding running water, composting toilet, and solar panels. They will get assistance from awesome local green resources like Austin EcoNetwork partners the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems and Treehouse.

It is a fishbowl-like demonstration project that is experimenting with living in 1% of the average home space and utilizing 1% of the average water and energy consumption. Developments will first be tested out in the Dumpster lab — a real full-size dumpster that was disassembled and welded back together inside the classroom by the nice folks from Texas Disposal Systems.

This mobile learning lab will bring international attention to the project, its participants and the important environmental awareness that underlies the initiative. The project is designed to engage three primary audiences:

First, this project has just made learning about green living a whole lot more interesting for Huston-Tillliotson University students and will boost morale among faculty and staff. Green is the New Black, a student group run by Dean WIlson is an initiative supporting engagement of Black and Hispanic communities that have been typically underrepresented in environmental organizations.

Second target is the K-12 kids, especially those at the nearby Blackshear Elementary. The H-T students will be working with the elementary school kids exploring issues related to consumption, waste and sustainability. Projects will be geared to engage students into longer-term interests and fields such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), design and planning. An online curricula with resources such as podcasts and videos will outlive this experiential component of the project for continued educational use in and out of the classroom.

Lastly, the project will draw new members of the Austin and global community onto their campus. The boldness of this project has already garnered massive media attention, and they are just getting started. Throughout Austin, Huston-Tilloston University's sustainability initiatives will be recognized and appreciated. Outside Austin, the profile of a Historically Black University's environmental innovation should surely help fuel continued participation of diverse groups in modern environmental efforts.

I look forward to watching the development of the Dumpster Project over the course of the year. Professor Wilson invited members of the launch party to consider spending a night in the dumpster so that it can be occupied 365 days this year. (Apparently he has some traveling to do). My eight-year old son tugged on my sleeve all the way to the car saying he wants to live in the dumpster.  Who knows, if they will let a kid do it maybe we'll volunteer, when the weather gets a little better.