What Makes A Trash A Home

The beloved New York Times published an article titled “One Man’s Trash” about a noteworthy self-taught builder named Dan Phillips. Phillips, now in his mid-sixties, makes homes out of salvaged materials. Shards of glass are used for windows or kitchen tiles, picture frames are used for roofing, old wood for the wall, and license plates for waterproofing.

The structures, in the end, are beautiful. Slightly eccentric, a little slanted, but certainly original and, to use a word so rarely written properly, unique. The best part: the homes were built for low-income tenants. Many of these tenants have been foreclosed on and some houses have been abandoned, but that does not mean the effort has been a failure. On the contrary: the majority of people in Mr. Phillips’ rather conservative Texas town support his entrepreneurship and innovation. The reason why this is so important is because this public support will begin to challenge the ethics and aesthetics of other contracting, construction and real estate companies. And who doesn’t love a little capitalist competition?

Mr. Phillips’ hometown, and a few other neighboring cities, have already commissioned him to build recycling warehouses where others can donate or pick up materials for their houses. Imagine this on a large-scale, where the whole country participates in similar recycling plants – individual residents, contractors, and interior designers alike.

Every dump has already set-up a recycling and garbage-sorting endeavor. Adding a side-along operation like Phillips’ recycling center, run by either the private or public sector, would not be costly or demand much innovation.

I also envision another whole new industry: a comprehensive recycle pick-up enterprise, manned by young environmental enthusiasts and professionals alike who would be trained in construction and who could identify what waste could be used for what housing project. (Ex: I have a ton of empty Trader Joe label wine bottles, three bucks a pop. A great deal, I know, but could I get even more bang/k for my buck by recycling those bottles into lamp fixtures?)

I smell jobs. I smell environmental sustainability. I also smell fewer foreclosures, as the price tag for maintenance and reconstruction projects could be lessened. Could this be the very antidote for our country’s sick obsession of throwing out, buying new, and deeming trash what may very well be treasure? Maybe.