Bea Johnson’s 5 R’s

Every day, the world generates 3.5 million tons of garbage – 10 times the amount generated 100 years ago. Bea Johnson wanted to do something to change this situation – she is the type of person that practices what she preaches. For the past 10 years, along with her family of four, she was able to reduce garbage to almost nil. She uses the method she calls the 5 R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot. She plans her life methodically, using glass bottles instead of plastic, buys fresh produce instead of frozen, always according to what’s in season. Bea started a movement to share her vision – for people to live simpler lives without any waste. She wrote a book called Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying your Life by Reducing your Waste (Scribner, 2013), promoting her vision of the 5R’s of Zero Waste. The book was translated into 28 languages, and was a best-seller on Amazon. She now travels around the world presenting her vision, inspiring millions who listen to her, with the hope of adopting the idea of zero waste.