Garbology: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

In 2011, Bea Johnson was a typical resident of the San Francisco suburbs who didn’t see her family’s habits as particularly wasteful. When she moved from a big house to a smaller apartment that was supposed to only be temporary, however, she realized just how many of her possessions were unnecessary. Johnson told her husband she wanted to try to keep living a more pared-down life. They ended up buying a much smaller home, and while their decision was better for the environment, it also meant they had more money to spend on other things.

Johnson was French and originally came to the U.S. as an au pair. Eventually, she founded a company called Be Simple that helped people declutter their homes. Many people who visited Johnson’s new home were surprised and didn’t understand it. The Johnson family set limits on what they could buy and how much of it—for example, a limit on clothes to buy each year. While it might sound time-consuming, Johnson found that it actually freed up time for her.

When Johnson’s home appeared in a magazine photo spread, touted as a “Zero Waste Home,” it provoked strong reactions. While many were inspired by the photos, a minority criticized Johnson. Some pointed out substantial issues (her family’s annual carbon-heavy flights to France), while others got defensive about practices they simply found strange (such as Johnson’s decision to digitize her children’s artwork, then recycle the hard copies). Johnson admitted that she wasn’t perfect but wondered why her lifestyle made so many people angry.

Many have asked Johnson if it’s possible for “ordinary” people to make a difference. While some individual environmentalists have made a big difference and drawn praise for their efforts to clean up trash, Johnson seemed to face resistance because she was asking people to look at internal trash problems instead of external ones. Johnson remained optimistic and kept seeing small signs of progress like the growing acceptance of reusable store bags.