The Mover and Shaker: Bear Chan from Loop Store

Getting to Know the story of Hong Kong #ecostorerefill Partner Store

 

Meet Bear Chan- The founder of our retail and refill partner, Loop Store. Loop Store is a package-free store in Sai Wan Ho.  

Prior to founding Loop Store, Bear was working in fashion but had always led an eco-conscious lifestyle. She was always refilling her own products but struggled to find the same options near her, which is what inspired her to open her own zero-waste store, in her neighborhood. And just like that, Loop Store was born!  A woman with a dream, and the desire to make a difference and better the world. Now, not only can she refill her own products anytime, but she also invites you all to join her by bringing your own containers to the shop. By showing your support in being eco-conscious, you can assist Bear’s journey to make a positive impact.  

We invited Bear to shed some light on her eco-journey, some of her inspirations for the eco-movement in Hong Kong, as well as what the future holds for The Loop Store. 

 

1. When did you begin your zero-waste journey? What inspired you to embark on it?

 

Bear: It’s a long story, I studied fashion and textile and graduated from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. After my school life, I worked in the textile industry for over 16 years in different fast fashion companies, but I had no clue about green-related issues. After I started a zero-waste life, I was always dreaming that one day there would be a zero-waste store locally.

Additionally, I am turning 40 years old in 2022. To me, it’s a good time for new challenges, mature and full of passion. Doing something not only completely new but also meaningful to my community. 

About 2-3 years ago, I was tidying up my bathroom and was frustrated at all the messy bottles that I accumulated. So, I decided to purchase some simple and plain bottles instead, and then just buy the refill pack of shampoo/ body wash instead.

After doing this a few times, I realized what I need is the liquid itself instead of the new bottles. I tried to search my area to see if there was a store selling liquid only, but there wasn’t. This is where my eco journey is started…

 

2. Tell us a bit more about Loop Store, what products are available at the store? What are some upcoming plans for the store?

 

Bear: In Loop Store, you see tons of delicious foods. We range from dried fruit, healthy snacks, traditional Hong Kong Style snacks like banana cake, egg waffles, and organic sweet cashew nut brittles, as well as herbs, nuts, spices, soy sauce, flour, Japanese rice, pasta, chia seeds. We also have some interesting tea like whisky tea and mango tea. In our freezer section, we have local bagels, croissant/ Chocolate lava cakes. The beverages we have are local coffee and milk tea.

Other than drinks and food, we of course have personal care items and household cleaning items. All of the mentioned merchandise is sold in bulk.

I am planning to do some collaborations with nearby restaurants, in order to encourage people to use their own food boxes when getting takeaway food. Hopefully, this will be launched in the near future.

 

3. What are the best things about running your own zero-waste store? What are some challenges?

 

Bear: it great to meet many new friends with the same vision, make me feel I am doing things in the right direction, even a zero-waste store is not that popular at the moment. At the daily operation level, we have to tackle storage condition issues and good management in terms of temperature, moisture… in the vendor management level we need to spend a lot of time finding the right supplier, who offer eco-friendly product, support small business and understand the zero-waste concept.

 

4. Any advice/ tips for people that are interested in transitioning into an eco-friendlier/ more zero-waste lifestyle? Where should they start?

 

Bear: I really suggest they start with personal care items first, like how I started. There is nothing easier than bringing empty bottles to a zero-waste store and filling them up. Just simply doing it once a month for shampoo, body wash, etc. is a small change, but a big impact.

 

5. When it comes to environmental and zero-waste movement, do you see anything interesting that other countries are doing at the moment that you would also like to see in Hong Kong?

 

Bear: I do hope we could bring a liquid vending machine to Hong Kong. It’s becoming more prominent in other countries, like New Zealand, France as well as Taiwan. Even in Macau, there are two liquid vending machines that sell personal care items. Actually, I did approach one of the biggest vending machine companies in Hong Kong, before I established Loop Store. However, they are not interested in it yet. Hopefully one day I can be part of that project.