When we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, a large, modern city, I wondered “are there any zero waste things happening here?”. It was mostly for self interest, I was in desperate need for some plastic-free supplies and wanted to see if anyone here could point me in the right direction. So one day I googled “zero waste Kuala Lumpur” and guess what?! There are indeed Zero Waste things happening here!
My search led me to Claire’s Facebook page. She’s originally from France but has been living in Asia with her Malaysian husband. Even though she’s been residing in this part of the world for some time she definitely still has that enviable French je ne sais quoi. They have 3 kids and a zero waste home! How amazing and inspiring is that!? They’ve actually just recently moved to KL from Hong Kong where she started Hong Kong Green Home. There’s this really cool feature video made by National Geographic about their zero waste apartment in HK, check it out here.
Around the same time I connected with Aurora via Instagram. Aurora is a sweet 28 year old Chinese -Malay journalist on a zero waste path! Three months ago after reading an article about Lauren Singer from Trash is for Tossers, she was inspired to do zero waste in this part of the world. And she’s doing an amazing job!
One thing led to another and soon all three of us were in a group chat making plans to meet up on the weekend. Claire and her husband offered to pick Fernando and me up outside the subway station that was closest to Kuala Lumpur’s Free Tree Society. Aurora and her husband met us there at 9am for some morning volunteer work.
After lunch we hopped into Aurora’s car to do some zero waste shopping. We went to a traditional Chinese store where we bought black beans, barley, and tea in bulk. There were many other grains and beans but since we almost never have a kitchen I figured it wasn’t a great idea to buy too much. Needless to say, I was a very happy shopper!
Although I’m not able to be a zero waste traveler (I can’t compost half the time), I love the zero waste lifestyle and what it stands for. Many times, as I look around me I can’t help but feel hopeless for the future of our planet. I see a never ending stream of disposable plastics, mounds of trash, people littering, and the storm drains being used as a trash can on a daily basis. But then you realize you are not alone, there are indeed many other people out there who do care. And knowing that, and meeting them, gives me hope.
Hi! Came across your blog while doing my research on zero waste living. I just got to know about zero waste living few days ago by my sister ( shocking isn’t it? ). So excited to see someone living in Malaysia and believes in this too ( because you know how much of an eyesore seeing rubbish everywhere on the roadside/beach/park here).
Before I only do recycling and of course try to use less plastic. I also regularly do a morning cleanup on beaches/park ( it’s some kind of a therapy for me, weird isn’t it?) That being said, I always feel I can do more but didn’t know how. Now, I feel even more inspired to do more! Keep up with a good post ya 🙂
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Hi Aisyah! Good to hear from you, and happy you’re researching Zero Waste. I was also excited to meet people in Malaysia who are practicing that life style, it seems everyday there are more and more. They just opened up a zw store in KL, called Hive, if you live there maybe you can check it out! PS: I also find clean ups therapeutic. Hugs from Bali 🙂
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Thanks for this post! I thought I was the only nutso thinking about a zero waste lifestyle in plastic-lovin’ KL. It’s been quite a challenge, as everything is covered in plastic, even organic vegetables. Would love to connect with all of you one day 🙂
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Haha, good to hear there are more “nutsos” out there. You should connect with Aurora and Claire, they’re super nice and very knowledgeable. I know they’re both on facebook and instagram.
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So Inspiring, thank you for sharing all this with us !
Will be in KL for a few days soon, any address where I can buy some nice Plastic-Free Items ? [like bamboo utensils and such maybe ? There isn’t much of plastic-free things here, so was thinking that I could buy some in KL if there’s any shop like this 🙂 ]
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