Meet Jeff Wilson AKA Professor Dumpster , an environmental scientist and the Dean of Huston Tillotson University in Austin, Texas. The reason for his unusual nickname? He has decided to live in a dumpster for the next year. Yes, the kind that you might find filled with trash behind a restaurant.     Wilson says the inspiration to do something first hit him two years ago, when he was working on an article at a neighborhood coffee shop and caught sight of an eight-yard dumpster.     Now that he has found one, Professor Dumpster is putting his students to work. After all, the point of this project isn't just to spend his life living out of a garbage can: there is, a much greater purpose involved. As an environmental scientist, the professor constantly thinks about sustainable living and how every person should try to minimize his/her impact on our already stretched resources. That, is the challenge Wilson wanted his students to step up to, this entire year.     Using their math, science, engineering and technology skills, he wants them to retrofit  his 33 square-foot dumpster into a modern space that includes a shower, a toilet, a kitchen and a bed and is fitted with conveniences like air-conditioning and even WiFi. The demand? It all has to be green and sustainable. www.ks5u.com     So why is Wilson planning to go through such hardship? That is because he wants to equip his students with the tools to survive in a world that is rapidly heading towards a population of 10 billion people. A large majority of the population adjust to living in tighter spaces in the world where resources and space should be limited to be used.     By promoting awareness and education on these subjects, Wilson is helping students everywhere see that living "small" and sustainably is certainly possible. And while the dumpster project may seem a little crazy to some, the professor thinks of it as a "playful and imaginative" educational experiment and conversation-starter to discuss the fact that all of us can do with less as we move into the future. What is Jeff Wilson concerned about all the time?
How to search for a suitable trash can. Challenging his students to follow his proposal. Spending seven months sleeping in his office. Finding sustainable living ways of using fewer resources.