Dan Phillips of Huntsville, Texas, began his construction company in 1997 with a plan to provide low income citizens with affordable housing.  Like many, he found the solution of mobile homes as affordable housing an unattractive backdrop to any town.  Realizing that landfills are full of unused building materials and scraps, he came up with a new plan: building afforable homes out of trash.  He has created beautiful, rustic tree houses that any homeowner could be proud of with cork floors made out of salvaged wine corks, wood-burning stoves recycled from old ships, roofs made of leftover picture frames, and counters made of slices of orange wood.  These homes are creative works of art which are low in cost and friendly to the environment.  This is the ultimate in green living!  Mr. Phillips requires all recipients of his homes to assist him with the construction.  They learn all about the inner workings of their new homes and have a sense of pride and ownership upon their completion.  But what I want to know is: when is he coming to DC to build me a trash house?!

Check out the original New York Times article and slideshow here: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/garden/03recycle.html