Melanie Jensen 
For those looking to cut back on plastic waste and make a positive environmental impact in the Vienna community, look no further than Trace – The Zero Waste Store. The refill store sits at 140 Church St NW, where customers can purchase bulk items like spices, baking powder, and even shampoo and conditioner. All shoppers need is a few reusable containers and a box or bag to carry them home in. Owner and Vienna resident Mala Persuad even delivers some orders to customers’ doorsteps. Keep reading to learn more about how to refill containers with groceries and household items at Trace – The Zero Waste Store.
The Inspiration
When Mala Persuad noticed piles of trash and plastic littering the roads during a solo trip to Belize, she realized the next destination for that trash was the ocean. This wasn’t new to her; she had seen the same piles of trash in her hometown of Woodbridge, New Jersey, and in New York City, where she started her career as a journalist. Yet, something about the litter in Belize sparked a fresh, serious commitment to living as waste-free as possible.
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That commitment later turned into a brick-and-mortar storefront on Church Street in Vienna in July of 2021 when Mala opened the zero-waste refillery Trace – Zero Waste. Customers bring their reusable containers to refill bulk items, from cleaning supplies to personal care products and groceries. The container is weighed before refilling, ensuring customers only pay for the product inside.
Trace also features a curated selection of sustainable alternatives to everyday products in conventional grocery stores. Reusable floss, paper towels, napkins, bamboo cutlery, and even water balloons can be found throughout the store, perfect for those looking to cut down on their environmental impact in their everyday lives.
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As a Vienna native, Mala felt like she could make the biggest impact on the community she was already familiar with. Plus, the quaintness and walkability of downtown Vienna made the store location accessible and appealing.
The Trace Experience
Mala’s mission was not only to help her friends, family, and community cut back on one-use plastic items and lower their waste impact, but she also wanted to help share information and educate Vienna residents on sustainability. Her professional history in journalism and strategic communications gave her a unique set of qualifications to effectively share information with those around her.
“I think that the journalism and the ethics background made me a good candidate for this kind of mission-driven business, because I see how important it is to be a credible source of information,” Mala said. Along with discussing sustainability with everyday customers, Mala has also hosted elementary school students and Girl and Boy Scout troops to talk through the environmental impact of overconsumption and how they can make a difference through small life changes.
For beginners looking to start the zero-waste journey, Mala suggests focusing on the reduce and reuse part of the famous “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra. Her journey to being environmentally conscious and opening a refill store began after her trip to Belize.
She started investing in reusable items to replace plastic and single-use products in her everyday life. From refillable water bottles to reusable grocery bags and bamboo to-go cutlery, Mala slowly began to lower her waste impact.
When Mala was later caught trying to refill grocery items into reusable jars instead of plastic bags at a grocery store, the idea for a refill store sparked in her mind. In 2019, she started doing pop-ups at local events with small amounts of inventory, and slowly started seeing the impact she was having on her friends, family, and community. When she felt like there was a big enough market in the Vienna area for a store like Trace, she fully committed to finding a storefront.
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“I just decided to keep going until there was an obstacle that I couldn’t climb over or punch through or walk around,” Mala said. “And then there I was, signing a lease on a brick and mortar in July of 2021.”
Since its opening four years ago, Trace has refilled around 29,000 containers with things like beans, olive oil, protein powder, flour, shampoo, laundry powder, salt, and pepper. Trace also started offering delivery services to those local to downtown Vienna, with Mala dropping off orders herself.
Along with serving the Vienna area, Trace recently branched out to the Reston community by partnering with the Elden Street Tea Shop in Lake Anne Plaza. Any online orders purchased by Wednesday of each week can be delivered from Trace to Elden Street Tea by Thursday, giving Reston residents a shorter commute to pick up sustainable goods.
“I set out to make an impact on the environment every single day, and when I see for my own eyes how people’s habits are changing in their own homes that I have the privilege to go into, it chokes me up,” Mala said.
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