Zero-Waste Family Maintains Normal Lifestyle (VIDEO)

Bea Johnson wears makeup. She lives in one of the wealthiest counties in the country. And while raising two children, she's determined to live a zero-waste lifestyle.

Four years ago, Johnson's family downsized their home and decided to simplify their life, reducing the amount of stuff they owned. According to this video from NBC News, Bea's now down to one pair of shorts and two skirts. The family refills cloth sacks with grains and produce, have created a major composting system, and make their own cleaning products. Bea even offers reduction tips on her blog, The Zero Waste Home, encouraging readers to buy in bulk and start a junk mail war. The family's cumulative waste for this year all fits into a small metal box. This is a far cry from the over four pounds of waste every American produces per day.

But this family has found a balance, a way to maintain the lifestyle they enjoy, while drastically cutting down on waste. Bea's husband, Scott Johnson, was initially skeptical of the project, confessing, "I was just afraid that I'd be eating a bunch of granola or something all the time." Instead, the family has focused on reducing the number of items in their home, without cutting out the things that truly make them happy.

For Bea, this means the makeup stays - although she uses homemade substitutes. When asked why she doesn't nix the makeup, Bea replies, "If I did, then I'd be miserable, and is life really worth living when you're miserable?"

Not everyone supports the Johnson's zero-waste lifestyle, and Bea has received messages from a fair share of "haters," people who accuse her of being too extreme in her attempts to cut down on waste. But for Bea, her actions make sense, and her motivation is quite simple, as she explains, "I am doing it for my kids future."

WATCH how this family lives in a zero-waste home:

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Comments

[wolshdog]

01:42 PM on 02/24/2011

cool!

[Jess Chamberlain]

01:19 PM on 02/24/2011

I'm so thrilled The Huffington Post picked up this story about The Johnsons!

NBC found them through a feature story we ran about the family in Sunset magazine last month. Here's a link to the web version of the story: http://www.sunset.com/zero-waste

Bea and Scott (and their two boys!) are such an inspiration for how to lead an extremely thoughtful, environmentally-conscious lifestyle. I'm so glad to see the support here.

[Atcampbell]

01:14 AM on 02/24/2011

Maybe aside from individual efforts, we should also explore community solutions. We need to learn how to share, re-use stuffs people in our community already own, and split ownership on expensive items we seldom use. Like who needs a hundred landmowers in one neighborhood?

Online tools like SplitStuff can help neighbors and friends buy in bulk to reduce waste in packaging, storage, and fuel for transportation. But I also have a question, "How do we learn how to feel good about a zero-waste lifestyle, rather than feel good we have nicer things than the Joneses?"

We also badly need articles on effective incentives (social rewards, not just economic incentives) which will motivate more people to adopt a zero waste lifestyle despite the haters out there.

[BuckyJamesDio]

09:07 PM on 02/24/2011

I like the idea of community sharing - the neighborhood I used to live in did that to some degree, in that we all pretty much got together for beer and barbecue on Friday evenings and talked about what we had to do over the weekend. By sharing tools and equipment, we saved tons of money by borrowing instead of buying. With one exception.

No one borrowed my lawnmower. Oh no. Guys have a weird relationship with their lawnmowers, and all the guys in my neighborhood treated theirs like they were '68 Camaros. Seriously. We'd detail the dammed things when done and nestle them safely back into their covered garages.

Now, inasmuch as lifestyle ... it's all a personal preference. It's fine to have knick-knacks and nice furniture as well as it is to eschew such trappings and decorate more sparsely. There is no right or wrong, and in either case, you're not wasting as long as you're not throwing away.

I read this article in Sunset a month back, and it made me rethink what I waste. I try to recycle as much as possible, but the infrastructures still have a long way to go to make true effective recycling possible.

End of the day ... if you're doing something consciously to make a positive change, you're doing good. And that's what's important.

And hey - fanned 'cause you deserve it.

[Atcampbell]

09:54 PM on 03/02/2011

You're story about your lawnmower made me laugh and it drove home the point that definitions of waste and what people should give up is ‘personal’, like what make-up is for Bea Johnson.
You also mentioned that 'community sharing' is something you appreciate and what you used to do in your old neighbourhood, maybe you would be interested in checking out http://splitstuff.com. The site is step towards building an online infrastructure for sharing, splitting expenses, and fractional ownership to reduce waste or unused capacity of durable items.
And you’re right that we have a long way to go to building the infrastructure for zero-waste and for encouraging people to participate. (If we only had a Lady Gaga or Eminem with millions of fans and strong influence advocating for zero-waste…!) But as you said for us regular people, our personal effort in doing something for positive change is already important.
***And fanned you because you reminded me that people advocating for causes need to keep in mind that the 'how part of living sustainably is personal' and that other ways and degrees of living green are important as well and should be appreciated.

[RedFlatShoe]

04:16 PM on 02/23/2011

I actually like her cleaning solutions recipes. I suddenly developed some sensitivities to cleaning products, so I need to try out her recommendations. It is no fun getting rashes when I clean my kitchen.

[jetle25]

01:22 PM on 02/23/2011

It is so weird that there are people hating their way of life. Bizarre...

[elenanatx]

11:31 AM on 02/23/2011

This is inspiring! I have thinking about the waste I consume a lot lately and have started downsizing. I am single and it is ridiculous taking out a bag of trash daily containing containers from groceries and paper from junk mail! Seeing this story gives me some good ideas. I will check out her blog.

[wishmehere]

11:02 AM on 02/23/2011

want to really do something for your children and future generations? Stop eating meat.

[Bruins97]

08:40 PM on 02/24/2011

because of course the only way to do something is by following your lead.........Thanks for imposing your agenda while taking a shot at this pretty inspirational story.....

[richard shirley]

09:36 AM on 02/23/2011

Biggest question for me is WHY there are people out there that send "hate" mail to these people? If you don't like it fine, but why does it matter to these haters? The same thing happened years ago when the lady that wrote "The Tightwad Gazette" got hate mail from people who said it isn't American to save and be thrifty and not waste. I say BRAVO to them.

[yougg]

07:39 AM on 02/23/2011

Cutting down on waste isn't that hard. I read somewhere that in Denmark waste reduction is practiced by everybody. I went to a green fair a couple of years ago. There was a company that rented dumpsters to roofers. The asphalt shingles torn off were taken for recycling. Great idea.

[SageSpencer]

02:19 AM on 02/23/2011

I checked out her blog. I was surprised to see how many of the things I already do. Maybe I am a waste-warrior and did not know it??

[NiaKailua]

09:43 PM on 02/22/2011

Bea is a great inspiration! I agree with the poster who said it will be nice when something like this is the norm and not an anomaly. Every week I try to include a new "green" habit into our home. When you realize what's at stake, any inconveniences to becoming more eco-friendly are definitely worth it.

[Summer Cornish]

06:27 PM on 02/22/2011

It is so important for everyone to work together and take any action possible to live a greener lifestyle in order to keep our planet healthy. Each school year, the average American student produces 67 pounds of trash at lunch time. Packing a waste free lunch to take to school or work each day is a small change that could easily make a huge difference. Check out www.wastefreelunches.org for ideas on going waste free and encouraging others to do so as well.

[muhair]

05:23 PM on 02/22/2011

It will be nice when something close to this lifestyle is the norm.... not a freakish anomaly worthy of media attention. It will be nice when a story like this isn't presented as a fringe/weird thing.

[Max Shaw]

05:21 PM on 02/22/2011

This sounds great! Glad people are trying to make a difference!

..Would hate to see what they did with THEIR waste though. Bet its the one chore everyone hates getting on the wheel each week...