Elora Hardy may have a famous name—her father, the iconic jewelry designer John Hardy, has created workshops, schools, and hotels throughout Bali—but she’s hardly one to rest on her laurels. The Indonesia local established her sustainable design firm Ibuku in 2010 and has since sprinkled every part of the island with her signature sweeping bamboo structures. Here, the doyenne of eco-chic shares her conscientious guide to Bali.
Threads of Life
“[The Threads of Life] textile shop—which has worked with more than 1,000 weavers on 11 Indonesian islands for 15 years—has small group workshops on the archipelago’s traditional fiber arts at their studio and botanical garden in Ubud. Understanding the impact of our fast fashion habit is crucial—it’s the second-most-polluting industry in the world right now.”
Nusantara
“This restaurant’s motto says it all: Go local, or go home. More than 95 percent of the kitchen’s ingredients are Indonesian, reducing the huge carbon footprint of imported foods. Edible kitchen waste is fed to pigs or composted for the vegetable garden; all other waste is recycled.”
The Kul Kul Farm
“Kul Kul Farm was founded by my brother, Orin Hardy, who is passionate about growing healthy, wholesome food. There, they teach skills and provide educational experiences in permaculture design, bamboo building, gardening, and earth-friendly living in the form of short workshops and courses.”
Trash Walk with John Hardy
“My dad developed this ‘walking meeting’ [which takes place at the Bambu Indah hotel at 7 am daily] because he realized so many of his meetings were about finding scalable solutions to the trash problem. The rule is simple: You must keep walking, keep spearing, and keep talking. All sorts of people come to spear trash with him and leave with a new perspective on the footprint they leave on the world every day.”
