Business born from green mission

Former educators join efforts to set up zero waste store in Subang Jaya promoting sustainable living

PETALING JAYA: It was their sheer commitment and passion to “put a halt to waste” that prompted Lee Pei Jayne, 38, and Tan Pei Yen, 37, to quit their teaching careers and set up Minimize Zero Waste Store in SS14, Subang Jaya in 2021.

Both are master’s degree holders and for several years at Sunway College, Lee taught business management while Tan lectured in physics.

As Lee puts it: “We were learning about zero waste living and before the Covid-19 pandemic, we visited such stores in the Klang Valley to buy detergents and dry food refills.

“Once things returned to normal post-pandemic, we wondered why with its large population, Subang Jaya did not have any zero waste stores, so we decided to start one.”

Tan added that the pandemic-related lockdown was challenging. The two were forced to depend on packaged products as they wanted to lower their waste, especially involving single-use packaging.

Lee said in 2023, Malaysia produced 39,000 metric tonnes of waste daily, with the national recycling rate a mere 33.17%, which is still shy of the 40% target set for 2025.

“Food makes up the biggest component of domestic waste at 30.6%, followed by plastic at 21.9%, paper at 15.3%, disposable diapers at 8.2% and hazardous household waste at 14.2%.

“Packaging contributes a large percentage to plastic waste and is the main thing we aim to tackle. Most products are overly packaged for aesthetic reasons. Sometimes, it may be necessary for hygiene purposes, but it’s mostly for marketing.”

The co-founders started their company as an online endeavour with a website. Soon, they expanded to selling products on Shopee and Lazada before finally opening their physical store.

In the beginning, they mainly sold kombucha, a fermented, lightly effervescent, sweetened black tea drink. With their bottle return policy, they soon added other sustainable products to their lineup.

“Refills were not possible as we initially did not have a physical location. We also realised that there were limitations to an online business since we wanted to provide more ‘reusable’ options for customers,” said Lee.

Tan added that although they quit the education sector, their current business still allows them to educate customers on how to live a low-waste life by being mindful of their product choices.

“The first two years were spent creating awareness on our existence and selling the idea to ‘bring your own container’. As we approach our third year, business has boomed and customers have learnt to reuse and repurpose their containers during purchases.”

Today, their company has over 100 in-store products that cater to different customer needs and budgets, including refillable detergents and personal care products, which Lee said are among their best sellers.

They also sell an assortment of chips, roasted nuts, pure peanut butter and even healthy pet treats like dehydrated duck trachea and dehydrated tilapia fritters.

Their “natural” range of laundry detergents with more sustainable ingredients is for customers who have higher budgets, reuse their bottles and wish to ensure that products are “water and earth safe”, with natural fragrances and no colour pigments.

“Most of our personal care items like cold process soaps, skincare, hair care and solid cologne are locally made by small businesses.

“We are passionate about supporting them as we believe in promoting high-quality Malaysian-made natural and sustainable products. We also carry hand-sewn batik accessories and products as a way to support home-based tailors.”

Lee said while Minimize Zero Waste Store is not the first in the country, it certainly will not be the last.

“We have drawn inspiration from other zero waste stores and hope more entrepreneurs will enter this business so that household waste can be better managed.”

For more information, please e-mail mnmzero.waste@gmail.com or visit their website at https://minimizezerowaste.com/.