I subscribe to the Tiny House Blog where I spotted this video. 16-year-old Austin Hay of Santa Rosa, California gets my personal Tiny House builder award for his project. He’s been working on his tiny house for two years and still has a way to go. He plans on taking it off to college as his living space in two more years. 

My favorite section begins at 6:07.

I’ve been collecting the trash I produce with this. If it’s recycleable, I recycle it, but otherwise it goes in here…this is a year and a couple months of trash. So far I only have one and a half garbage cans full. This is the insulation foam (shows a canister), this is the Tyvek housewrap that I couldn’t use. If I can’t use it, it goes in here. Obviously not much.

The smaller, the less trash you make. People who do big construction work for big houses, they get dumpsters full and haul them off. This one you don’t even need a dumpster.

I love the walk-through of the house-in-process that follows the trash sequence, beginning at 6:59. He shares the space he’s creating, bringing it alive with his narrative and gestures.  

Austin closes the interview with this:

It’s very peaceful and quiet. I have my own sense of domain in here. It’s a big accomplishment for me.

(Get this young man the Master Builder Maker and the Minimal Waste Maker Badges, quick).