'I'm trying to save my ass - and that is a powerful force,' says eco-architect Reynolds. So convinced is he that humanity is headed for oblivion due to our depletion of the Earth's resources and pollution of the environment, that he builds self-sufficient, off-the-grid 'earthships' out of old beer cans, bottles and tyres hard-packed with earth.
Using power from the sun, rainwater and treating their own sewage, the distinctive-looking buildings are not reliant on any infrastructure.
For 35 years Reynolds has been experimenting with his 'biotecture' in the New Mexico desert, along with a faithful following of colourful eco-activists.
Reynolds believes that progress evolves through making mistakes - so why are we still living in the houses our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents built when we should be adapting urgently to the new challenges presented by global warming?
Perhaps it was inevitable that a visionary like Reynolds would be regarded as a threat by US planning authorities and banned from building, his architect's licence taken away for 'safety reasons'. But his willingness tofight the system on its terms - he dons a rather too-tight suit and has a bill drafted to take to the senate - shows he is absolutely committed.
With his bill knocked back the first time, Reynolds might have returned to the New Mexico desert with his tail between his legs. But instead he and his crew find themselves very much in demand in the AndamanIslands after the tsunami. Here, survivors embrace the concept of the earthship and as Reynolds and his team show the islanders how to build earthships for themselves, the benefits of the self-sufficient home built out of rubbish get a new angle.
Garbage Warrior highlights the head-in-the-sand attitude of the West towards climate change. How many disasters will it take before our planning authorities take alternative, ecologically advanced building seriously?
Reynolds himself is an endlessly patient, likeable, funny man. He is half-Jesus, half-Gandalf in lurid wraparound sport shades, with a war cry of 'hubba hubba'. Although Reynolds is on a mission to save the human race - against the odds - he is a humble man with a self-deprecating sense of humour.
At the beginning of Garbage Warrior he comes across as an eccentric hippy living in a Mad Max wasteland, but by the end it is clear that if we are to save ourselves and our children from global warming, we should take him seriously.
Happily, having learnt of his efforts in the tsumani-hit Andaman Islands, the US authorities finally give Reynolds his licence back and his project to keep experimenting in the New Mexico desert is approved. It's a victory for the little man but ought to be a big wake-up call for us all.
