There are currently seven bulk stores in Greater Jakarta: The Bulkstore & Co. in Menteng, Central Jakarta; Naked Inc. in Kemang, SELAMA in East Tebet and Saruga in Bintaro, South Jakarta; Farmers 99 Market in Gading Serpong, Tangerang, Banten, and Kembangan, West Jakarta; and Lulu Hypermart Store in Cakung, North Jakarta.

Saruga coowners Adi Asmawan and Ridah Zaki said their goal in opening a bulk store was to raise awareness regarding single-use waste and its effects on daily life.

“We want to break the cycle that generates excessive plastic waste,” Ridah said. “Sixty percent of waste [in Jakarta] comes from households, and we want to change that by introducing this type of store.”

This change in lifestyle starts from the store’s own employees.

“We’re reducing plastics step by step. And then when we need home supplies like spices, soaps and so on, we bring our containers and shop here,” said Syadella Fauza Ramadhina, an employee at Saruga.

Syadella and her twin sister and coworker at Saruga, Syadilla Aliza Ramadhina, both try to promote the lifestyle to their parents, which is not always easy.

“Sometimes they forget, and end up using plastic bags. We have to keep reminding them about waste issues. But they are definitely making an effort to change their lifestyle, step by step.” Syadella said.

Plastic is almost inseparable from people’s daily lives, a major challenge for those looking to run less-to-zero-waste stores. Some vendors and producers still use single use plastic for product packaging or in the transportation of goods.

“Beauty products are very easily contaminated, so we can’t adopt a zero-waste approach, but rather a less-waste approach,” said Aulia Putri, a cashier at The Bulk Store & Co.

She said that many customers were still unaccustomed to the store’s shopping process, but that over time she had seen more customers bringing their own containers.

Weslyna, an expatriate from Singapore and loyal customer of Naked Inc., said she wanted to contribute to efforts to minimize waste. 

So when she first heard about Naked Inc. from a friend, she was intrigued by the less-waste bulk store concept. Now, she brings her own shopping bag, containers and even cutlery everywhere.

“With the current waste issues, I want to limit my plastic usage.”

Veronica Maureen, an environmentalist who recently arrived in Jakarta for work, said she had already heard about less-waste bulk stores. Though she said she had only visited one store on one occasion and had not bought any groceries, she was interested in the concept behind such stores.

“We definitely need more less-waste bulk stores. So far, the most common waste we generate while doing groceries is plastic, both in the packaging of the products and the bags.” she said.

Veronica said she believed awareness was built by one or two pioneers, who could make a huge impact, contrary to what some people believe.

“Surely, the process to make a lifestyle change cannot be done overnight, but it always starts from one person. If it’s done consistently, eventually more people will get involved and the demand to accommodate their lifestyle will rise,” Veronica said.

Social media also plays a huge role in promoting the stores and the environmental values they seek to encourage.

Keisya Karami, a university student, found out about Naked Inc. on Twitter and brought her own jars to the store to buy baking soda. It was weighed to determine the price.

“It [the information] was shared to me on Twitter by a friend, and I was attracted to the variety of products available and the less-waste concept also piqued my interest.” Keisya said.

— The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post

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