BRINGING ZERO-WASTE TO YOU!
For the second year in a row, Minus continues its pledge with Zero Waste Malaysia for their low waste delivery, use of electronic receipt, bulk purchase system, and duplex printing. They have also come up with new initiatives this year that meet two of the pledges of providing refillable dispenser amenities and supporting BYO storage in replacement of single-use packaging.
Minus Zero Waste Store is a female-led online retail store based in Johor Bahru selling zero waste products ranging from personal care and feminine care to kitchen essentials. Their mission is to enable individuals to easily take small first steps into a sustainable lifestyle and to enable communities to move away from single-use plastic
This time around, Minus has launched a mobile refill station back in September 2020 in conjunction with their 1 year anniversary. This mobile refill station focuses on providing household products including dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, and floor cleaner right at their customers’ doorsteps! Minus collects orders through a Google Form throughout the week and conducts the delivery every Friday. Minus allows their customers to refill on the spot or they can opt for pre-filled items in reused packaging. Minus will then swap the pre-filled containers/bottles for empty ones from the customers, with a preference on the plastic milk bottles.
Minus mobile refill station – operated on a fuel-efficient vehicle
As with Minus’ delivery models, they have branched out to another platform aside from Instagram and their website, Minus is also now available on Shopee. They were able to reach a wider range of customers with their presence on Shopee including states like Kelantan and Terengganu. With this, they need more supplies for their reused packaging as well. To request for carton boxes, Minus engages with the community, largely from the Johor Bahru Beli Nothing Project community group. Previously, Minus was able to do direct deliveries hence the necessity for cartons are lesser as compared to now when their customers prefer that no direct contacts are made. Minus is not concerned that they will run out of repurposed boxes as the e-commerce market is growing at a large scale, hence the amount of boxes not reused or recycled is more concerning.
The response for Minus mobile refill station and their online presence expansion have been very positive – 69% of Minus’ customer base are now new customers. This proves that there is still an untapped group of consumers who are actually interested to adopt the zero-waste lifestyle. In just 4 months of the mobile refill operation, Minus was able to help their customers divert 180 1L bottles from being used once and thrown into the landfill!
Moving forward, Minus hopes to set up more brick-and-mortar options in the Johor Bahru area, where they operate from. This helps to make their operations more efficient and provide convenience and personalized shopping experience for their customers. Momo Love Concept, a thrift and consignment store, is one location where they have set up a permanent pop-up installation featuring household goods and food and care items for pets.
