When people tend to hype about Zero wastes, there was a time, during the 20th century in Malaysia, it was once quite a zero waste mentality among common folks around the world.
I could remember when I was very little I used to see glass bottles in drinks were sold; and milk or even chili pastes sold in glass bottles were given discounts if buyers return for more purchases with used cleaned bottles.
I also remembered I used to go to those sundry shops in my hometown with my mom when I was little and see how my mom ordered rice and flour that came straight from the guinea sacks or wooden barrels.
Those were the time we had no problem with excess garbage because there were hardly any non disposable ones; and beautiful marketing packages were not invented...
until plastic packaging came into existence....
(all in the name of hygiene, portability, exports and simply - it looks nice)
Ever since I realised how bad we humans have turned our big beautiful planet into a dump site (not because of global warming - well... thanks a little to El Gore's sharing), and saw on YouTube how people started challenging themselves about living in a zero waste environment (especially with the super interesting metal straw), I always wanted to challenge myself to take the first step into reducing my carbon footprint on this planet that I currently still living in.
I started for 2 years now challenging myself only to pack economy rice near my office place with only reusable containers, from recycled plastic ones, and then later changed to glass containers easily obtained from places like Daiso .
So the moment I heard that there was a revival of those good old days of Bulk Food Store emerged with a new modern twist, thanks to @yasminep 's invitation to listen to the talk at her Women's Entrepreneur Conference a few months back I have been really intrigued to visit this place called - THE HIVE BULK FOODS
To be honest when the founder Claire Sancelot mentioned about it, I was envisioning the place was huge just like my childhood memories, maybe just a little modern, but I was a little surprised with a little tad of disappointment to see it was much smaller and simpler scale when I stepped into it.
But then again I totally agree with the concept as it was a tidier and cleaner display with a women's touch instead of the traditional misty woody setting and possibly hardly any ventilation and lighting sundry shops. This place actually gives people comfort to just wander around from rack to rack just to find whatever they need; with the payment counter situated right in the middle like an island counter.
Moreover this place is to support local and abroad female entrepreneurs, so it's target audience is very different.
(Perhaps when it grows bigger and more enterprised it could be very different)
I digress...
Let's come back to this zen-like Bulk food store. You can practically find the basic stuffs that most women would need: from flour (gluten free included! @heart-to-heart would love that), to oil, honey, dry fruits, essential oil, beauty products (including handmade soap where our very own #teammalaysia @natalielo used to provide if I remember correctly), and even enzyme cleaners!
They even have samples beauty products for you to try
Yes, it doesn't seemed to look much from the store (actually their bulk supply is actually kept in huge big jars at the most bottom rack and you usually won't notice it), but because most supplies come from local entrepreneurs they do not need to have a lot there.
They even make their own nut butter and cashew butter seems to be their expertise so far; though for me it could be a little watery but this is actually the first time I am tasting a home made butter other than peanut, so I will not be able to judge it myself.
Tahini paste is next in their list, and I know tahini paste's texture. They are exactly like that and we can do so much with it and it is one of my favourite ingredient for humus.
So the moment I realised that they were selling their very own branding stainless steel straws, I jumped right in. I even got this curved one just for my portable coffee mug so that I can use it when I am driving.
The only disadvantage I can see is that it requires cleaning, even if it has a special pigeon straw brush sold for such a purpose, and you technically can't really "travel light" when you have all these to carry on with you.
Another reason that this place attracted me to visit is that I have started loving to snack a little healthier (than usual chips), and every time I have to buy a box of mulberry, nuts or seeds I ended up having so many excess containers. So this place is perfect when I only need a specific weight of nuts and fruits without ended up having new tubs shelved up or thrown away.
Moreover, I have discovered dehydrated strawberries! I have never had those before and this is really a great place for trying that out, not to mention imported dried blue berries that will be perfect for desserts in the future.
Also.... I wanted to see how dehydrated items really look like on the retail; and I must safe to say @elizacheng and myself did nothing wrong. Dehydrated food ARE meant to be chewy.
Verdict
Would I attempt to go back and buy necessary items again from this place? DEFINITELY! This place still has some pretty interesting things to see (not to mention you can make your own tea and have it while you are contemplating what to buy) and other handmade products to support, because I now no longer need to buy the whole pack of store ready imported food ingredients and I could just pop by to get whatever I need.
HOWEVER this time I will make sure these used containers are in my shopping tote bag before I head there.
How about you? Do you have a bulk food shop near your area? Would you attempt to live in a zero waste lifestyle provided these bulk food are readily available everywhere?
Well... or at least live in a minimal waste usage lifestyle?
OR perhaps you are already started practicing it? Do share your experiences here!
That's all for today. I hope you have enjoyed reading my findings as much as I have enjoyed preparing it.
Until then
Thank You for Your Time
Thank You for Your Time
@littlenewthings, you are SO RIGHT! I would LOVE this place! I'm so disappointed I didn't make it on my last trip to KL! Next time for sure!
I'm happy to hear you're looking for healthy munchies, it sure looks like that's the place for them!
Really cool that you brought up the straws too (I just got asked to be part of a no straw campaign) they are really toxic little things that after only one use take forever to go away. We need to stop with that and use other methods like the ones you show here!
Well, now that you've sold me, you'll just have to come with me next time, deal? <3
definitely deal @heart-to-heart! If I am in town I would definitely join you! Most likely this is going to be my regular joint once I get my daunting tasks done for my new place starting from August (hopefully!) as I have been recently intrigued with YouTube videos of making gluten free crepes!
so having a bulk shop that allowa small portion of ingredients is just the place I need to go.
I will see you when you fly over! I am out of town for a couple of weeks back to my hometown to take care of my parents for a short while.
Great post about zero waste. Bulk food stores do sound like a great place to start. I've been using the cloth sacks instead of plastic grocery bags for many years - plastic build up is becoming a real problem.
Bravo.
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informative article .
Thanks for sharing ....
Thank you for stopping by @ali-haider
I love the zero waste idea. Normally, I bring my own reusable bags, when I go to shop at local markets or hyperstores...
Nice! I should check it out sometime. And it's great that you are challenging yourself with reducing waste. I do need to remember to bring my containers more often.
Some days when I do takeaway coffee I opt out of the plastic cover out of guilt hahaha.
I actually don't mind the old school wholesalers to be honest. It was cheap n good, just need to work on the cleanliness. Lol.
It is so good to see another Steemian posting about such an important topic. You might enjoy my podcast with Zero Waste Home. Great post. Please keep up the good work!
I've been shopping bulk foods for years. I'm glad you have the option now, it really is a better way. This looks like a particularly interesting shop....
I just don't use straws. Ever. If I can't drink it with my mouth only, I don't drink it.
Thanks for a marvelous look at the way things can be.
I think this is a good practice that you are doing! We try to use glass everything, too many chemicals and contamination when dealing with plastic...especially when warmed up. I really love the stainless steel straw. We have looked into getting one but haven’t done so yet...I think we definitely will!
That bulk store looks lovely. I love all the glass containers and the beauty samples you can try. We have a dehydrator and we dehydrate our own strawberries and bananas...there’s nothing like it! We put a little honey and lemon juice on them before putting them in and they are sooooo delicious and of course healthy too!! Thanks for sharing this with us~ 😊
The Hive looks amazing! I wish we had one in Scotland. We do have a few stores that offer food in bulk containers like this, but only on a small scale, and not near where I live.
So many foodstuffs come in plastic packaging - it's appalling when you think of those awful plastic floating islands. I have a wooden toothbrush, but I bought it in a store about 150 miles away, so I'm not sure if/when I'll be able to buy a replacement! It's something we should all be thinking about - and taking action on. Thanks for your beautifully illustrated thought-provoking post!
Here they are already imposing to ban plastics from public markets and the malls have already gotten rid of them. Replaced by paper bags good luck to our trees lol. But they are offering reusable eco bags made from water lilies. Slowly I hope things turn well as plastics causes flooding in some areas where the sewers gets clogged when it rains. Excellent work!
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This is really great I have never heard about bulk food stores as I don't have any in my area. I'll definitely be on the lookout for metal straws though and I'll even pester my local supermarket for a reusable shopping bag
I always thought these stores should exist everywhere!!! Nice to see someone else that cares about taking care of the world around us! The US uses too much plastic, in my opinion...but some countries in Asia I've seen them use even MORE than in the US and I couldn't believe it.
And then I can never find a recycling bin on top of it! I worry about it lol sometimes people make fun of me about it, but oh well!
Especially own container when tapau-ing economy rice. I have made it a habit :)
Gotta get me that straw tho!
That's a real awesome practice @nazirullsafry ! I have been doing this for a few years now, until the economy rice tau keh gave me 50 cents discount whenever I ta pao
Keep it up! Hope you get the straw! I just tried with my tea live today and the seller was shocked that I kindly return the pre-packed plastic straw. maybe next time I will ask is it ok to bring my own container for the tea live / chatime and see what their reactions are (if I ever remember it). Otherwise my coffee mini flask is the main container. lol.
Thank you so much for stopping by. My apologies for replying late as I have been really busy and totally out from the platform
I admire your habit in commenting and responding to comments and posts :)
Im making it a habit too, like my economy rice tapao habit :)
You are doing a great service to the team @littlenewthings :)
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