Trailblazer Marcus DiMaggio discovers minimalism as the key to preserving our environment.

Bristling pines, stirring wildlife and panging muscles were all that adventurer Marcus Dimaggio knew as he took on the Pacific Crest Trail – a 2,600 mile journey – one step at a time.  Every day for five months, he hiked anywhere from 20 to 25 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail determined to reach Canada, which runs longer than the Mississippi River, in perspective. The feat required Dimaggio to find a deeper sense of necessity out in the world, with roughly 12 pounds of materials that accounted for food, water, a sleeping bag and a tent.

“These became the possessions of my life for nearly half a year,” Dimaggio said.

Amateur tiny-home constructor, musician and hike aficionado, Dimaggio grew up as the son of Paso High’s own Earth Environmental Science teacher Mark Dimaggio. This, he credits, to have pushed him towards the wilder side of living.

“I naturally grew up in that environment. It’s just who I am,” Dimaggio said.

Students were awakened to the new alternative lifestyle choice that set itself apart from the ‘money-first’ way of living. Dimaggio has inspired high schoolers  “to explore alternatives” and always be on the lookout for “new ways to innovate”. The Pacific Crest trail that took Marcus five months to complete lead him to focus on leaving a small carbon footprint. Soon after finishing the trail with his 12 pound backpack he realized he missed the simplistic lifestyle.

“Just because something has been done one way for a long time doesn’t mean it’s the only way,” said Dimaggio.

His decision to build a tiny house, with little to constructive background under his belt, began with a vision to reduce his impact on the environment around him.

“We can always do small things to mitigate what we consume,” said Dimaggio.

He recently put on the roof of his tiny home and predicts he will live in it for 5-10 years, and will stay as long as it is comfortable and realistic. With a mobile lifestyle, he will be able to have “enough time to not just make money but also engage in work [he feels] will make a positive difference in the world.” All on the salary of his career as a musician.
Marcus Dimaggio set out on this journey to inspire others to live more efficiently, and to help slow the pulling of resources – many non renewable – that are depleting at an unsustainable rate. The United States alone consumes 21.1% of the globe’s natural gas.The recent influx has to do with the higher standard of living in the US and our culture of consumption over preservation.

Dimaggio helped enlighten his audience as to why we are a society driven by our own profit. It is often because we deem individual successful off on possessions and purchase impulses which only provide finite pleasure. There is an “alternative definition to success,” claims Dimaggio, one that doesn’t consume your life with money to put personal goals above the money. Let’s get in touch with the natural green of the outdoors rather than fixate on our wallets.