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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: ZERO-WASTE REFILL STORES - Baraputri
HEADLINE: Refill stores: tackling the problem of single-use plastic packaging
PUBLISHED:
BYLINE: Valdya Baraputri
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: Laurentius Wahyudi, Nabila Ganinda, Valdya Baraputri
VIDEO EDITOR: Valdya Baraputri
ASSIGNING EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs, Baragona
VIDEO SOURCE: VOA Original
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO _x_
TRT: 2:41
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE: TVR
((INTRO))
[[The UN estimates that the world produces over 430 million metric tons of plastic waste every year globally, with the largest source being single-use packaging. VOA's Valdya Baraputri reports on a movement to cut down on such waste.]]
((NARRATOR))
(Various of weighing containers and refilling containers)
Trace supermarket in Vienna, Virginia, near Washington, has everything a shopper needs, except containers. That’s right, no bags, no boxes, no bottles. If you want to bring something home, even liquids like cooking oil or shampoo, you need to come prepared.
Visitors bring their own containers and weigh them, fill up what they need and then buy their goods by weight.
((Radio Cue: Mala Persaud is the owner of Trace.))
((Mala Persaud, Trace Owner)) (female, in English)
"I got the idea to open the store in 2018. I got tired of seeing so much garbage and plastic in the trash. Single use coffee cups, single use packaging, I knew less and less is going to be recycled."
((NARRATOR))
Persaud opened Trace in 2021. She says, according to Greenpeace data, only six percent of plastic waste in the US is recycled, and she hopes stores like her can make a difference.
((Mala Persaud, Trace Owner)) (female, in English)
"In the three years we’ve been open, we refilled 21 thousand containers. That’s just containers. That doesn’t even count the things that are not wrapped in plastic, like, for example, we sell a lot of shampoo bars."
((NARRATOR))
Customers said shopping at a refill store isn’t as easy as a full-service store but gives them a sense of accomplishment.
((Radio Track: Phil Corcoran of Virginia has been coming regularly)) (one L)
((Phil Corcoran, Trace Customer)) (male, in English)
"You feel good because you do your little bit for the environment. The staff are very friendly and helpful, and they are very much into doing for the planet and the environment as well, so yeah, it feels good."
((NARRATOR))
(Shopping at Fullfilllery, all-purpose cleaning tablet)
In Takoma Park in Maryland, another refill and zero-waste store called Fullfillery even offers their own self-made products. One of them is an all-purpose cleaning tablet made from recycled cooking oil.
((Radio Track: Fullfillery co-founder Rini Saha explains how to use it))
((Rini Saha, Fullfillery Co-Owner)) (female, in English)
"So, you open this up. Once you open it up, you cut it up, add water, and it becomes a really great cleaner. It cleans granite, it cleans wood."
((NARRATOR))
(Saha with customers)
Saha opened the store four years ago. She says changing consumer behavior, no matter how small, is key to reducing waste.
((Rini Saha, Fullfillery Co-Owner)) (female, in English)
"If the only thing they can do is carry around reusable straws, it’s still saving almost 500 straws a year, right. We just hope that people try to stop waste where they can."
((NARRATOR))
According to the advocacy organization, the US Public Interest Research Group, there are about 1,300 stores in the US with a zero-waste concept, and this number is growing. Around half are refill stores, and others are stores that have a large selection of refillable items.
((Valdya Baraputri, VOA News, Washington.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateDecember 25, 2024 09:17 EST
BylineValya Baraputri
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
