This conversation is about joy, clean pure fun, deeper relationships, greater self-awareness, our highest values. It’s the opposite of what results from the treadmill of mainstream life built on comfort and convenience. When you live by your values in a world that doesn’t, you move from the mainstream. That happens to leaders. That could be lonely but it’s also forging ahead. That’s the opportunity and challenge for those of us[…] Keep reading →

Bea has become a role model, maybe even a hero to me. People keep saying they’re impressed with my waste. It’s easy to allow your standards to slide. One problem: my fellow Americans waste more than nearly anyone in human history. I don’t want to relax my cleanliness and integrity. Bea has reduced waste for longer and has spoken more about it. She knows what works, what doesn’t, how to[…] Keep reading →

Bea has become a role model, maybe even a hero to me. People keep saying they’re impressed with my waste. It’s easy to allow your standards to slide. One problem: my fellow Americans waste more than nearly anyone in human history. I don’t want to relax my cleanliness and integrity. Bea has reduced waste for longer and has spoken more about it. She knows what works, what doesn’t, how to[…] Keep reading →

Bea Johnson’s blog and my bestselling book, Zero Waste Home (20 languages and #1 on Amazon.com, waste management category), have launched a global movement, inspiring thousands of people throughout the world to live simply and take a stance against needless waste. In them, she proposes a simple guideline, my 5R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot (and only in that order). The New York Times called her “The Priestess of[…] Keep reading →

People tell me over and over, “You’re a single man. You can make unilateral decisions so it’s easier for you to live more sustainably. If you had a wife or kids, you’d see you couldn’t do what you do.” Yet people in marriages, with kids, or both who succeed at their dreams often tell me their spouses were their greatest sources of support and their kids motivated them. Most recently,[…] Keep reading →

This post is about freedom. Several milestones this week following Year 13, day 1 of daily burpees and My Second Winter Solstice: Over 1.5 Years Unplugged From the Electric Grid (and counting). More freedom than ever. I once filled about a load of trash every week. I ordered takeout and bought lots of packaged food. I bought things online. I didn’t realize how much it cost me in money and[…] Keep reading →

I last posted a picture of my garbage around 2.5 years in, I think. Yesterday ended the third year on one load. Today begins year 4. Here’s the load, in a canvas tote bag I got from a conference, before I knew not to accept them. My skills in avoiding acquiring what will become garbage are increasing, meaning that most of the garbage in that bag came in its first[…] Keep reading →