Brooks Hausser

The amber glow coming from the dichloromethane bottle in the living room barely lights the space enough to read. The bottle is filled with old Christmas lights, dug out from the neighbors’ trash.

It’s one of Gavin Okoniewski’s favorite parts of the house.

“We’ve been trying to do this project basically on no money and very little supplies — things we find in the Dumpsters or what we can find for free on Craigslist,” said Okoniewski, a junior at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.