"Married to the jar lady"

I'm fascinated by this suburban America family actually achieving a near zero waste lifestyle without alienating their kids, dressing in burlap, or touting extremist ideals. They make it look so clean and easy. A recent People Magazine feature caught my girlfriend's eye,

"Since 2006, the Mill Valley, Calif., couple and their sons have cut down their garbage output so that they now produce only enough in a year to fill a 1-liter mason jar... Gone are styrofoam trays and plastic wrap---Bea brings glass jars to the butcher, fish and deli counters to with meat, fish and cheese... Recently Scott was the one approaching the deli counter with glass jars. When he did, the clerk asked, "Hey do you know the jar lady?""

Leo (10) on life in the school lunch room, "It isn't hard to say no to chips. They're gone in three seconds, then the bag is in the trash."

from People, pg. 78

Meet the Johnsons - mainstream America's first zero waste household. Secrets: reused clothing, knotted towel lunchboxes fot the kids, no package grocery shopping, etc., and lots of recycling. Benefits? Dad says they've reduced some household expenses by 25%. Mom says, "We set out to simplify our lives, and it turned into something good for the environment." Here's a great little video from NBC's Today Show 2011 (see another here):

Cheers to these folks!