MIAMI — Planet Earth is in the grips of a growing environmental crisis -- but the choices people make every day can still help change its course.

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.

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.

“I’ve always loved the Earth, but I learned that I wasn’t living in love with the earth,” Greenfield said. “I was living in a way that was causing such harm.”

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.

“Today 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,” he said.

His lifestyle is a bold statement aimed at drawing attention to the price the natural world is paying for human overconsumption and waste.

“What we call the American Dream is ultimately the world’s nightmare,” Greenfield said. “The way we live just causes so much destruction.”

Step by step, he stripped his life down to the essentials.

“The food I was eating, the car I was driving, the stuff I was buying, the trash I was making,” he said.

In 2016, Greenfield launched “Trash Me,” 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.

“People would walk up to me and say, ‘What are you doing?’” he said. “And I’d say, ‘Oh well, I’m just living like the average person, but I’m wearing all of my trash’ and they would look at me and they would see that that’s what they would look like if they held on to all of their trash.”

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.

“It’s about realizing that we each have the power to take responsibility for our own actions,” he said. “That can mean leaving a mountain of trash behind for future generations -- or not. Instead leaving behind a clean and enjoyable place for future generations.”

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.

“Roadkill deer tastes just like deer if you were to hunt it,” he said.

He has biked across the country three times spreading his message and has garnered a massive following on social media.

“My objective is to help people realize that food and medicine is growing freely and abundantly all around us,” Greenfield said, “and help them to start somewhere.”

He doesn’t expect everyone to adopt his extreme lifestyle. Instead, he encourages small, manageable changes.

“You can start with one plant and just learn one plant,” he said. “And if you do that one month -- one plant per month for a year -- that’s 12 plants.”

Those plants can be grown at home or purchased at a local farmer’s market, reducing reliance on plastic packaging that contributes to environmental damage.

“We’re at a public park in Miami, and this is one of the places where I harvest my food and medicine,” he said.

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.

The outing planted seeds of curiosity and stewardship in the next generation.

“He’s so cool. He shows us a lot of edible plants and stuff,” one child said.

“Instead of wasting money, you can find food from nature,” said 8-year-old Jules Durante.

For Greenfield, it’s more than a lesson -- it’s a life lived with intention.

“To feel this, to embody this and see, ‘Here I am -- I’m 100% existing because of what’s growing around us,’” he said. “It’s amazing. It’s a real joy. It’s a real connection.”

Greenfield has written about his off-the-grid lifestyle in his book, “Food Freedom,” which shows how anyone can live more sustainably and in harmony with the planet. The book is not for sale — it’s available for free, with a QR code encouraging readers to donate. Proceeds support environmental education initiatives.

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.