"I thought about this as a living experiment"

Her living quarters are tight — the boat has only about 450 square feet of interior space. There are one small lamp and six tiny ceiling lights, forcing Bratman largely to rely on natural light. A contractor will soon determine whether her boat can be fitted with solar panels…

Her winter heat source, a series of heat lamps, keeps the Last Resort chilly at best. Bratman often returns from her job as a professor in the international development program at American University to an indoor temperature well below freezing and must wear her outerwear indoors until the boat warms up.

Even off the boat, Bratman keeps her carbon emission output low.