{"id":123,"date":"2025-06-06T17:41:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T17:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/?p=123"},"modified":"2025-07-22T10:02:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T10:02:38","slug":"refull-reducing-waste-by-refillable-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/?p=123","title":{"rendered":"Refull: Reducing Waste by Refillable Products\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"513\" src=\"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Picture-30-1024x513.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-573\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Picture-30-1024x513.png 1024w, https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Picture-30-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Picture-30-768x385.png 768w, https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Picture-30-1536x770.png 1536w, https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Picture-30.png 1966w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video controls src=\"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Refull-Team.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Problem and Motivation Behind<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;People in our community lack understanding on how to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We wanted to create something that not only provides a solution but also raises awareness.&#8221; \u2014 <\/em>Sukma Jenny Emadina<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sukma Jenny Emadina and Gina Alpharetta, two 22-year-old young girls from Surabaya, Indonesia, noticed that their community, including university students and local residents, heavily relied on packaged products. They recognised that the lack of understanding around sustainable practices was one of the core reasons behind the plastic waste issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indonesia is the second-largest contributor to plastic waste globally, and Surabaya, like many cities, faces a growing waste problem. Domestic waste\u2014especially single-use plastics\u2014continues to pile up, despite the harmful effects on the environment. In Surabaya, there is a lack of awareness about sustainable consumption, particularly when it comes to reducing, reusing, and refilling rather than just throwing things away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Motivated by their commitment to environmental change, Sukma and Gina decided to create a simple, accessible solution that would encourage people to rethink their daily habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Innovative Solution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;Many businesses talk about recycling, but we prioritise reducing waste from the start. Our goal is to build a habit of sustainability \u2026 our platform isn\u2019t just about selling products; it\u2019s about making people rethink their daily habits and how they impact the environment.&#8221;<\/em> \u2014 Sukma Jenny Emadina<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Refull<\/em><\/strong> is a digital-based refill business that promotes sustainable living by offering refillable household products such as dish soap, laundry detergent, and hand sanitiser. The concept is simple: instead of buying new plastic bottles every time, customers bring their own containers and refill them. This model significantly reduces plastic waste and encourages more sustainable habits. Unlike conventional recycling approaches, Sukma and Gina prioritised reducing waste from the outset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the <em>Youth Innovation Lab<\/em>, Sukma and Gina gained essential skills in business development, design thinking, and digital marketing. The lab\u2019s training enabled them to understand consumer behaviour, develop effective problem-solving strategies, and leverage social media to expand their reach. &#8220;<em>The training gave us the confidence and skills to build Refull. It helped us see the bigger picture and how to create real change.&#8221;<\/em> \u2014 Sukma explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since its launch in 2022, Refull has made over 150 transactions through their platform. Refull has helped reduce the community&#8217;s single-use plastic consumption while promoting behavioural changes among university students and households. Additionally, Refull\u2019s collaboration with local small businesses has helped boost the community\u2019s economy by increasing demand for refillable products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lessons Learned from Addressing Challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Time Management and balancing pursuing academic studies and doing business:<\/strong> Balancing university studies with running the business was initially a major challenge. To overcome this, Sukma and Gina created a structured schedule to manage both their academic and business responsibilities efficiently.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Building awareness to overcome people\u2019s reluctance to change their shopping habits :<\/strong> Convincing people to change their shopping habits was not easy. The team tackled this challenge through social media campaigns, local events, and peer-to-peer engagement, which gradually built a customer base and fostered a community of conscious consumers. &#8220;At first, people were sceptical, but we kept explaining the benefits. Now, they love the idea!&#8221; \u2014 Sukma adds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Competing with Big Brands:<\/strong> Since large corporations dominate the household product market, Refull initially struggled to compete. To differentiate themselves, Sukma and Gina focused on the unique value of sustainability and emphasised the importance of local community support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Next Steps and Future Aspirations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;We want to make refilling a normal part of daily life, not just a trend. Sustainability should be easy and accessible for everyone.&#8221;<\/em> \u2014 Sukma Jenny Emadina<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking ahead, Sukma and Gina plan to grow Refull beyond Surabaya. They aspire to normalise refilling as a daily practice rather than a temporary trend. Their plan for the next steps includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Developing a mobile app \u2013 Making ordering and refilling even easier.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Launching awareness campaigns \u2013 Educating more people about reducing waste.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Expanding their supplier network \u2013 Partnering with more local businesses to increase variety of refillable products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A digital platform to promote refilling household products, reducing plastic waste and encouraging conscious consumption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"country":[20],"sub-theme":[21,39],"pj_theme":[3],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","country-indonesia","sub-theme-sustainable-consumption","sub-theme-waste-reduction","pj_theme-environment"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":574,"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=123"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcountry&post=123"},{"taxonomy":"sub-theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fsub-theme&post=123"},{"taxonomy":"pj_theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yicatalogue.collectiveroutes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpj_theme&post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}