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.

One of my more intrigued items offered at The Hive Bulk Food are these fascinating stainless steel metal straws. As I have mentioned that I saw in YouTube about people who challenged to live in a Zero Waste lifestyle, and this was one of its attraction that caught my eye. Often times I tried to look for something similar but they usually come in fancy plastic settings, and I know plastic straws, though a little sturdier that the normal ones, but will not last, and I didn't want some cheapo metal straw that could rust anytime because I love buying coconut water during weekends and I have to throw away so many plastic straws that accumulate dusts and even insect nesting which not hygiene at all.

 

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