Lately, I’ve been finding more and more bulk store appear in Jakarta. Earlier this week Agung and I paid a visit to a packaging-free, bulk grocery store at Kemang Village called Bulksource Just like Saruga, this bulk store provides household needs pretty much without packaging. Agung and I had been here beforehand and we loved the selection of items they have in store, so we decided to go back and restock on some supplies.
With this pandemic panic of COVID-19, people have been opting for the disposable more often and the demand for unsustainable items have risen significantly. Truthfully, this breaks my heart. Personally, I still believe there’s a place for a low-impact lifestyle in this chaotic situation, but we have to be more proactive and conscious about our decisions. And this is how we are doing that.
First of all, I find it notable that this bulk store is located in a mall. Frankly, I’d never thought to find one in such an establishment, so it’s very cool. To be exact, it is located inside a plant-based restaurant, Burgreens, so they have to share the space.
Though compact, it has a wide array of items available, from raw ingredients, such as beans, nuts, flour, tea and pasta; self-care products, such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant and menstrual products; zero-waste kits, such as reusable straws, reusable tumblers, tea strainers, brushes and food containers; and edible goods, such as homemade crackers, jams, peanut butter, chocolate and non-dairy milk.
The place is well-lit, enabling you to see all the items as you walk in—and even through the shop window. The shopkeeper was really informative and cooperative in assisting you on your purchase—and didn’t bat an eyelash on any of your photo-taking (lol).
There’s one small difference between this bulk store to the previous one I visited—aside from the wider selection of items. Some of the items in this store is pre-packaged, although mostly—I believe it’s not really all—are plastic-free and either reusable or compostable. But, for those that don’t come with a packaging, you can always purchase a paper bag, glass jar or such like from them for a relatively small price. I’d suggest coming prepared with your own container just to minimise your spending—and on the off chance that they ran out of containers for sale.
My favourite thing about this store is their affordable self-care products, especially the bar soap and toothpaste. They have a few soap options for various skin type and it’s been working wonders for me. It is marked unscented, but gives off this lovely natural scent for me. The toothpaste lasted me several months and I absolutely love the feeling it leaves behind in my mouth—not at all minty, not at all bubbly, but definitely fresh.
This time Agung and I purchased two more items we haven’t tried before. I bought a brush to wash my water bottle with—the bristle is made out of coconut leaves and the handle of bamboo—while Agung opted for a strawberry-and-mint jam from L’Amour. We’ve been eating it with bread every single day.
All in all, I find the store to be one of those small spaces that somehow just have everything. I’ve been here twice and I haven’t even looked at all of the products. There are definitely still some items that I hope to purchase in the future—like their homemade snacks, perhaps. It would be nice if I can come back more often and actually build up my stocks of household needs from a bulk grocery store.
Just because we have to stay extra clean to keep our health these days doesn’t mean we can’t still stick to a low-impact lifestyle. Let’s be more proactive and conscious about our impact!
How do you keep your waste to a minimum in this chaos?
Lately, I’ve been finding more and more bulk store appear in Jakarta. Earlier this week Agung and I paid a visit to a packaging-free, bulk grocery store at Kemang Village called Bulksource Just like Saruga, this bulk store provides household needs pretty much without packaging. Agung and I had been here beforehand and we loved the selection of items they have in store, so we decided to go back and restock on some supplies.
With this pandemic panic of COVID-19, people have been opting for the disposable more often and the demand for unsustainable items have risen significantly. Truthfully, this breaks my heart. Personally, I still believe there’s a place for a low-impact lifestyle in this chaotic situation, but we have to be more proactive and conscious about our decisions. And this is how we are doing that.
First of all, I find it notable that this bulk store is located in a mall. Frankly, I’d never thought to find one in such an establishment, so it’s very cool. To be exact, it is located inside a plant-based restaurant, Burgreens, so they have to share the space.
Though compact, it has a wide array of items available, from raw ingredients, such as beans, nuts, flour, tea and pasta; self-care products, such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant and menstrual products; zero-waste kits, such as reusable straws, reusable tumblers, tea strainers, brushes and food containers; and edible goods, such as homemade crackers, jams, peanut butter, chocolate and non-dairy milk.
The place is well-lit, enabling you to see all the items as you walk in—and even through the shop window. The shopkeeper was really informative and cooperative in assisting you on your purchase—and didn’t bat an eyelash on any of your photo-taking (lol).
There’s one small difference between this bulk store to the previous one I visited—aside from the wider selection of items. Some of the items in this store is pre-packaged, although mostly—I believe it’s not really all—are plastic-free and either reusable or compostable. But, for those that don’t come with a packaging, you can always purchase a paper bag, glass jar or such like from them for a relatively small price. I’d suggest coming prepared with your own container just to minimise your spending—and on the off chance that they ran out of containers for sale.
My favourite thing about this store is their affordable self-care products, especially the bar soap and toothpaste. They have a few soap options for various skin type and it’s been working wonders for me. It is marked unscented, but gives off this lovely natural scent for me. The toothpaste lasted me several months and I absolutely love the feeling it leaves behind in my mouth—not at all minty, not at all bubbly, but definitely fresh.
This time Agung and I purchased two more items we haven’t tried before. I bought a brush to wash my water bottle with—the bristle is made out of coconut leaves and the handle of bamboo—while Agung opted for a strawberry-and-mint jam from L’Amour. We’ve been eating it with bread every single day.
All in all, I find the store to be one of those small spaces that somehow just have everything. I’ve been here twice and I haven’t even looked at all of the products. There are definitely still some items that I hope to purchase in the future—like their homemade snacks, perhaps. It would be nice if I can come back more often and actually build up my stocks of household needs from a bulk grocery store.
Just because we have to stay extra clean to keep our health these days doesn’t mean we can’t still stick to a low-impact lifestyle. Let’s be more proactive and conscious about our impact!
How do you keep your waste to a minimum in this chaos?