A review of our Critical Conversation with Robin Greenfield

If there ever was ever an individual in society it would be Robin Greenfield. A man willing to try almost anything to reconnect with the earth. Last Thursday, Greenfield spoke for an hour about his transformation from an upwardly mobile marketing professional. Who had the personal goal of having a million dollars by his 30s to sitting in Griffith Park with nothing! Greenfield did not even have a driver’s license, money, food or clothes to wear.

A packed audience came to see Greenfield at The Bunker for Ecologistics’ first Critical Conversation of 2025. The audience was hung on every word as Greenfield spoke about his philosophy of life. He explored his journey as a traditional American consumer to becoming someone who practices not harming the people and the planet. After the talk, the crowd remained involved for another 30 minutes of questions and answers. Some even stayed to talk to Greenfield in the parking lot after the venue closed.

Greenfield, with not have any possession, is dependent on the people around him for food and a place to sleep as he travels. He accepted my offer of a room for the night at my own home. Eschewing such creature comforts as a hot shower (he planned to bathe in the ocean) and a toothbrush (he smiled as he pulled out his bay laurel twig which sufficed for one) Greenfield stayed true to form. While few of us would choose to go to his extremes, he is a reminder that we could all do with a little less or probably a lot less.

After his radical experiment of non-ownership is complete later this month, Greenfield plans to return to his native home of  Wisconsin. Where he plants to commence a project of planting one million trees.

Our ever-resourceful CollegeCorp fellow, Dani, recorded the entire talk. If you would like to see Greenfield’s talk, please check out the recording on our YouTube channel! Greenfield has a plethora of information on his web