North Bay Woman

F A L L 2 0 1 8 | NORTH BAY WOMAN 41 She's certainly not alone in her fascination with and commitment to zero waste living. So powerful is Johnson's vision, she's been the subject of more than 100 television features, her book is translated into more than 20 languages, and she's a popular speaker in more than 50 countries around the world. "I've tested a lot of extremes, trying to find ways to create zero waste in our lives," Johnson says in her white-on-white minimally decorated house (even the Chihuahua is white). "Some of them were pretty extreme, like using no-poo on my hair and trying to plump my lips with stinging nettles. That was a disaster. I tested a lot of extremes, even went so far as to make my own cheese, bread, butter. Eventually we found alternatives that we could find ourselves sticking to for the rest of our lives." Johnson's two-story home, within walking distance of downtown Mill Valley, feels as crisply clean and paired-down as an operating room crossed with an art gallery. But the art here is the lack of clutter, in fact, overall, a lack of stuff. Sure there's furniture. It's attractive. It's just what they need. Beyond that? It feels spacious, and simply, different than most American homes you'll ever enter. Zero-waste guru Bea Johnson, in an older photo with sons Max (left) and Léo and husband Scott in Mill Valley, says starting to lead a more sustainable life includes refusing things you do not need and reducing through a de-cluttering process. Above: Johnson reuses lemonade bottles for wine secured at bottling events at Bay Area wineries. – Opposite page photo by Stuart Lirette; Page 41 clockwise, Stephanie Rausser, Zero Waste Home, @igorpodgorny

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