PRIESTESS OF ZERO WASTE SHARES TIPS
Mason jar of yearly refuse includes fruit stickers, son’s retainer, labels
Bea Johnson has made it her life’s work to share the gospel of zerowaste living.
Dubbed the “priestess of waste-free living ” by The New York Times, Johnson travels around the world — toting a pintsized jar containing the annual trash tally for her family of four — to preach the ethos of the 5R’s: Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and rot.
Along the way, she’s inspired countless people to open package-free businesses, including Linh Truong, co-founder of The Soap Dispensary + Kitchen Staples, which is hosting Johnson’s first Vancouver talk at the Arts Club Theatre on Thursday.
Johnson talks to Postmedia News about her journey to zero waste.
Q Your family has been trashfree since 2008. How did you get started?
A In 2006, we moved into a rented apartment for one year with just the necessities. During that year, we found out living with less, all of a sudden we have more time — more time to do what was important to us, more time with friends and sunny picnics and hikes. When we moved into a house, we got everything out of storage. Eighty per cent of the stuff we haven’t even missed. So we let go of them.
It’s thanks to this simplicity that we found time to read books and watch documentaries on environmental issues, and what my husband and I discovered made us think about the future we, as parents, were creating for our children. That’s what gave us the motivation to change. First, we watched our energy consumption and water consumption. Then we turned to the world of trash.
Q You (literally) wrote the book on zero waste living. It’s second nature now. But when you were a newbie, what was the biggest challenge?
A The hardest part for us was to find our balance. In the beginning, I got a bit too wrapped up in homemaking. At one point I was making my own bread, cheese, butter and soy milk — to the point where zero waste was becoming too complicated. I realized I was doing too much, and knew if we wanted to do this for the rest of our lives, we had to find simpler alternatives. Now instead of making my own bread, I bring my own pillowcase to the bakery, and believe me, they make better bread than I do.
Q What zero waste must-haves do you always carry around with you?
A A Thermos for all my drinking needs. A handkerchief. A cloth bag to buy food on the go.
Q What’s in your 2017 jar of trash?
A We have a spike from the dishwasher — you know, the spikes that hold up the plates? One of them rusted and fell off so it went into the jar. Each year we have the stickers from fruits and veggies. We also have my son’s retainer. The hair net from volunteering at the food bank. The straps from a pair of sandals. The labels on the back of clothing. Caulking from the sink. A gasket from a French canning jar, and also the foam from my older son’s headphones.
Q I’m told that when you travel, you bring your entire wardrobe.
A I’m a fashion graduate. I’ve always cared about fashion. It’s a way for me to express myself. In the past, I expressed it with a large wardrobe filled with nothing to wear. Now I’ve dwindled it to 15 pieces that are very multifunctional.
Q You raised two boys who grew up zero-waste. Now that your older son is off to university, do you expect him to maintain the lifestyle he grew up with?
A I can bet you he’s probably buying the junk food we didn’t buy at home. But that’s normal. He has to challenge what he has been brought up with. But at least he has the tools to do it if he chooses to do it. I’m visiting him this week and he had texted me saying, “Mom, can you bring more cloth bags?” So I think we’re good.
Q What kind of misconceptions associated with waste-free living do you hear most often, and what do you tell the skeptics?
A People have associated this lifestyle with hippies living in the woods, but we have shown you don’t have to be a hippie if you don’t want to be one. You can live a very modern life with less, and it can be quite attractive.
Some people think it takes too much time and costs too much, but it’s completely the opposite. Living zero-waste doesn’t deprive. It actually improves one’s standard of living. We are way healthier than before, and we are saving 40 per cent of our overall budget. But to me, the best advantage of this lifestyle is being able to live the simple life, one that’s based on experiences instead of things.
Tickets for Johnson’s talk are $14. chchan@postmedia.com