Peace of Mind Organizing

Simplicity to the extreme

27 March 2013

The current (April 2013) issue of Martha Stewart Living features an article about Bea Johnson and her family. This family of four—Bea, her husband, and two school-age sons—embraces simple living and reducing waste to the point that they produce two handfuls of trash each year.

That was enough to make me sit up and take notice.

I wish the article, written by Rory Evans, went into more depth on Bea’s strategies. But what’s there is very interesting. The good news is that Bea Johnson has written a book, called Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste, due out April 9.

Here are some nuggets (and photos) from the article:

• Forget about multiples. Each family member in her house has two towels.

• Eschew fashion trends. Her trend-free wardrobe fits in a carry-on suitcase (!) and all pieces go with one another. Check out her closet:

• Use your own reusable containers. According to the article, Bea brings her own containers when she shops, so she’s not bringing home disposable ones. She buys spices and pantry items in bulk and used her own glass containers to store them beautifully, as evidenced by these photos:

All I can say is wow. I look forward to checking out her book. That level of simplicity sounds a bit more spartan than enjoyable to me, but I admire the philosophy and effort behind it!

All photos by Laura Flippen, provided by and used with permission of Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

Tagged with: bea johnson, martha stewart, simplicity

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