MIAMI \u2014 Planet Earth is in the grips of a growing environmental crisis — but the choices people make every day can still help change its course.<\/p>\n
That promise is what drives a part-time Florida man to radically rethink how he lives, hoping to inspire others to make meaningful changes of their own.<\/p>\n
A modern-day naturalist, Robin Greenfield is inspiring curiosity and encouraging people — from young students to nature lovers around the world — to live more sustainably and connect with the Earth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always loved the Earth, but I learned that I wasn\u2019t living in love with the earth,\u201d Greenfield said. \u201cI was living in a way that was causing such harm.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2011, at just 25, Greenfield walked away from a marketing career in San Diego and chose a radically different path — one rooted in living off the land.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is day 133 of no grocery stores, no restaurants, eating 100% food that I am foraging from the land — down to the salt, the oil, the spices, the calories, the fat, the protein, everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His lifestyle is a bold statement aimed at drawing attention to the price the natural world is paying for human overconsumption and waste.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we call the American Dream is ultimately the world\u2019s nightmare,\u201d Greenfield said. \u201cThe way we live just causes so much destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Step by step, he stripped his life down to the essentials.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe food I was eating, the car I was driving, the stuff I was buying, the trash I was making,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In 2016, Greenfield launched \u201cTrash Me,\u201d a project designed to show just how much waste one person can generate. For 30 days, he wore a clear plastic suit filled with every piece of trash he produced.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople would walk up to me and say, \u2018What are you doing?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019d say, \u2018Oh well, I\u2019m just living like the average person, but I\u2019m wearing all of my trash\u2019 and they would look at me and they would see that that\u2019s what they would look like if they held on to all of their trash.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the U.S., the average person throws away about five pounds of trash a day — roughly three times the global average. Greenfield believes more conscious choices can dramatically reduce that burden.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about realizing that we each have the power to take responsibility for our own actions,\u201d he said. \u201cThat can mean leaving a mountain of trash behind for future generations — or not. Instead leaving behind a clean and enjoyable place for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now living back in his native Wisconsin, Greenfield grows most of his own food. He fishes, forages and even considers roadkill a viable food source.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoadkill deer tastes just like deer if you were to hunt it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He has biked across the country three times spreading his message and has garnered a massive following on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy objective is to help people realize that food and medicine is growing freely and abundantly all around us,\u201d Greenfield said, \u201cand help them to start somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t expect everyone to adopt his extreme lifestyle. Instead, he encourages small, manageable changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can start with one plant and just learn one plant,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if you do that one month — one plant per month for a year — that\u2019s 12 plants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those plants can be grown at home or purchased at a local farmer\u2019s market, reducing reliance on plastic packaging that contributes to environmental damage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at a public park in Miami, and this is one of the places where I harvest my food and medicine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
During the winter months, Greenfield also spends time in Florida. On one recent day, he led students from Miami Nature School on a foraging walk through Enchanted Forest Park in North Miami.<\/p>\n
The outing planted seeds of curiosity and stewardship in the next generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s so cool. He shows us a lot of edible plants and stuff,\u201d one child said.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of wasting money, you can find food from nature,\u201d said 8-year-old Jules Durante.<\/p>\n
For Greenfield, it\u2019s more than a lesson — it\u2019s a life lived with intention.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo feel this, to embody this and see, \u2018Here I am — I\u2019m 100% existing because of what\u2019s growing around us,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing. It\u2019s a real joy. It\u2019s a real connection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greenfield has written about his off-the-grid lifestyle in his book, \u201cFood Freedom,\u201d which shows how anyone can live more sustainably and in harmony with the planet. The book is not for sale \u2014 it\u2019s available for free, with a QR code encouraging readers to donate. Proceeds support environmental education initiatives.<\/p>\n
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