Meet Mikaela Molnar | Owner of Simple Bare Necessities

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mikaela Molnar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mikaela, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’m a pretty impulsive person who, if you ask my husband, tends to start too many projects. When you take that and mix it with a major passion for environmental change and a innocent level of impatience, it leads to randomly deciding to open a business in the midst of a pandemic. That’s the truth behind how I decided to open Simple Bare Necessities; I was yearning for a change, and I was too impatient to wait for someone else to do it. I began living a ‘zero waste’ lifestyle in 2018. I was a little neurotic about reducing my single-use plastic. I would go out of my way to shop for food sold without packaging, like from bulk bins at Whole Foods for instance. One day, on my walk around the lake in my community, picking up trash. I couldn’t stop thinking when is a store like this going to come to Sussex County? I thought it would be so cool to have a refillery/zero waste store without having to drive hours to access it. Then, it hit me like a brick wall, I decided I was going to be the one to bring this store to Sussex County. We needed a bulk store, with plastic-free options and a large refill section where I could refill my all-purpose cleaner without having to toss another single-use plastic bottle. I was certain I couldn’t be the only one who wanted this, and if I was then I was ready as ever to spread the change with others. I opened up Simple Bare Necessities to help others understand the impact that plastic has on the world around us, from the pollution on our streets to our suffering oceans. I wanted to show others there is a better way, the way of refilling. This world needs a refill revolution, where we normalize refilling or bottles and containers, and stop treating the packaging like waste and instead treat it like a ever-lasting vessel for our goods. My passion for this movement has carried me through starting this business, surviving a pandemic and conquering big life changes because this is the movement we need to spread awareness on.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I began a low waste lifestyle 4 years ago. The low waste lifestyle means reducing the amount of waste you generate. The average person creates 4.5 lbs of waste every day and I couldn’t wrap my head around that. Everywhere you look there is trash, and specifically plastic that takes hundreds of years to degrade.

I opened Simple Bare Necessities which is zero waste & refill store. We are a small business trying to make impactful change for our environment and community. We offer bulk goods that our customers can refill on! Instead of buying a new bottle of shampoo from the store every time it runs out, customers can take that empty bottle to our store and refill their shampoo. So far, we have refilled 7,684 bottles and jars. Our mission is to reduce single-use plastic and spread awareness on the plastic pollution crisis. When opening this store, I wasn’t sure how it would be received by the community but the level of joy and excitement that my store brings to the community fuels me. Our community has taken to refilling as such a normality which makes me so proud to be here.

Opening this store was not easy. I have achieved my associates degree in Business but beyond that, I have zero experience in retail. Especially a retail business like this which is a newer concept, not everything is clear cut like other retail stores. Even departments that I had to work with, like Weights and Measures and the Health Department were unfamiliar in certain areas so it was a learning curve for many of us. It resulted in sleepless nights staring at a computer screen studying and researching everything I could. There were countless phone calls to manufactures and distributors trying to explain our concept of zero waste and encouraging them to incorporate the same business model, but it was all worth the work when a manufacture would understand and agree to the closed loop terms because that was success for me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love Sparta, NJ because it’s a small town but very community based. The best brunch spot in town is easily Cloveberry, full of vegan treats and great drinks. We have a beautiful lake where you can swim, kayak and paddle board called Lake Mohawk and it’s encompassed by a small knit downtown area with organic stores, ice cream parlor, a well-known pub Kroghs and some wonderful boutiques. The boardwalk is a great place to spend the afternoon, visiting the shops of Lake Mohawk. Venturing a little out of Sparta is an amazing vegan bakery called All Roads which is packed full of plant-based and gluten free treats. High Point State Park is always worth a visit with the iconic monument that you can see for miles. There are also tons of trails, hikes and a beach in the state park that is free to visit for the whole year.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I owe a lot of recognition to my family. My husband and parents have stood by my side this entire journey through hot summer days and sleepless nights trying to make sure my dream came to life. In every way, I would not have gotten where I am without them. My husband dedicated majority of his free days to helping me create my store, grounding me during the stress of it all and even covering for me on days where I needed a break.

Website: www.sbnzerowaste.com

Instagram: simple.barenecessities

Facebook: SBNZeroWaste

Image Credits
Caitlin Hall