Erik de Buhr and Fay Carter

A graphic designer for Northwest Media while he was still at North Eugene High, Erik de Buhr left college early to travel. "I fished in Alaska and lived in Las Vegas for a year," says de Buhr, who was appalled by Las Vegas' level of consumption and waste. "I made dumpster runs for what I needed." Returning to Eugene after three years away in 2005, he found work in construction and in flash animation at Northwest Media, and also discovered a venue for his ideas on sustainability at Maitreya Ecovillage. That's where he met Fay Carter, an LA County native who came north by way of Santa Cruz and Wolf Creek in southern Oregon, then in 2002 moved to Eugene, where she opened the Park Street Cafe. "We found a common passion for simplifying and recycling," says Carter. Since they met two years ago, she and de Buhr have founded the Resurrected Refuse Action Team and produced a son, Abram. Behind them in the photo is their backyard bedroom, an Icosa Hut (half an icosahedron), built from 98 percent post-industrial waste. To learn about Icosa Huts and other RRAT projects, visit rractionteam.com. Check out the RRAT free box (Eugene's biggest!) on the corner of Broadway and Almaden.