This Jewelry Designer Is Shrinking Bali's Carbon Footprint

John Hardy and his family are pioneers in the island's sustainable-living movement.

BY JULIET KINSMAN for CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER

Since first arriving on the fabled Indonesian island in the 1970s, Canadian John Hardy has gone from jewelry-brand founder to environmental trailblazer. He and his wife, Cynthia, a silver-haired California native, are well-known around Bali for establishing the “bamboo cathedral” Green School, which instructs future generations in how to be eco-savvy. Some 500 children under the age of 12 now attend, and there are similar projects underway in New Zealand, South Africa, and Mexico.

Aura House James Purvis/Courtesy BoutiqueHomes

But it's not just the kids who are getting lessons in greener living. Every morning, John invites guests of Bambu Indah, his boutique hotel outside Ubud, on a “trash walk” to share his empathic take on the world while spearing bits of plastic. Built 14 years ago, this whimsical jungle compound remains a benchmark for sustainable construction, transforming light-on-the-land living—a wastewater garden, a vegetation-filtered pool—into an effortless communion with nature. One of the family's latest wonders is the bamboo Aura house (shown) in the Green Village. Designed by architecture and design collective Ibuku, founded by John's daughter Elora.

“We always create site-specific environments, such as our new meditation house, which emerges out of the earth and is placed so you see certain trees from the bed,” John says.

Opened in December 2020 is Guadua, a riverside property with cinnamon trees growing through it, also bookable; next year will bring a tree house with a crow's nest, designed with help from other daughter Chiara, and a pod atop 25-foot-high bamboo poles. A model green family demonstrating the power of individual effort to challenge the status quo.