Expert Advice: 10 Ways to Live with Less from Zero Waste Home - Remodelista
Photography by Bea Johnson of Zero Waste Home. When Bea Johnson, her husband, Scott, and their two children moved from a large house to a temporary apartment while they were looking for a new home in Marin, California, they put much of their belongings in storage and lived with just the necessities. Doing so proved to be an epiphany when they realized that they really did not need all the stuff that they had accumulated. This was also the genesis for Bea’s move to embrace simplicity; soon after, she started her blog Zero Waste Home–and that led to a Zero Waste Home book and consulting service. I also find artwork to be a burden to move. RM: What’s essential in a kitchen and what can you do without?BJ: You can achieve a simple kitchen in three easy steps: 1. Empty drawers and cupboards and let go of all the things that you know you do not use. Put aside items you are hesitant to give away (in the attic or in a box) and test your usage over a couple of months. RM: In your dining room?BJ: If the purpose of a dining room is for dining, what do you really need in there besides table and chairs? We keep the fruit bowl on nesting trivets so when we set the table, we remove the bowl but leave the trivets so they never leave the table and I never have to wait around with a hot dish in my hands. RM: Approach to decor?BJ: We decorated our stairs with some of the kids drawings. To create the collage, I simply applied varnish (white glue also works) to the risers of my steps, then applied the paper, then coated it with the same medium (varnish or glue). RM: How do you keep the accumulation of stuff in check with your kids?BJ: The kids have learned that the simple life makes cleaning their room a breeze. They have also learned that when they grow out of something, they can turn around and sell it on eBay or Craigslist to buy an age-appropriate replacement. They sold their Legos recently, for example. RM: Advice on tackling the bedroom and even more importantly, the wardrobe?BJ: What else do we need in there besides a bed and reading lights? It does not hinder decision making, it makes it easier to make choices and it greatly reduces our washes. RM: One simple takeaway for living with less–beyond composting and carrying bags to the market?BJ: Our Zero Waste lifestyle is based on applying the 5 R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot. Accepting these things creates a demand to make more; they are a waste of resources and once they are brought into our homes, they add to the clutter and require effort to dispose of later. Zero Waste Home is available on Amazon for $13.72. You can read more about Bea in a profile that Gardenista editor Michelle Slatella wrote several years ago for her New York Times column when they were neighbors.