What are refill shops?
Until last week, I couldn’t tell you.
Over the past few months, I have begun my endeavor towards living a more sustainable life. Since the TikTok algorithm knows all, my For You page has been filled with sustainable living influencers. From growing all your own food to anti-hauls, I’ve seen it all. While still in the early stages of my sustainable journey, I’ve had to consider what changes I can make in my everyday life that are realistic. Since I still live at home, I just can’t force my parents to throw out all their plastic. I’ve had to narrow down my scope and focus on the things that I can control and ask myself, “What can I do better?”
I was sitting on the couch and scrolling through TikTok when I began to hear the term refill shop. A refill shop is an effort to reduce the typical waste associated with everyday shopping. You can bring your own containers from home or (depending on the store) use containers provided at the refill shop. From there you can refill your soaps, detergents, cleaning supplies, and more! All the products provided at these shops are typically eco-friendly.
After learning about refill shops, I decided to check Google to see if there were any near me. I wasn’t particularly hopeful as I live in the middle of nowhere. Much to my surprise, there were two stores less than half an hour away! One of the stores was at a farmer’s market that was only open two days a week so I decided to try out the store with more flexible hours.
Conveniently, I was running low on hand soap in my bathroom and I made the decision to replace my current hand soap with an eco-friendly alternative. A couple of friends and I were as curious about refill shops as I was, so I decided to make a little adventure of it. I completely forgot to bring an empty container but fortunately, my friends came prepared. (Borrowed) Mason jar in hand, I set off on a mission – acquire soap.
Once inside we realized that bringing your own containers wasn’t a requirement. The shop had jars and containers available to purchase as well as a space for community containers where you could take a container if you needed one or donate one of your own. While some refill shops sell food products such as spices, this one is focused on cleaning products, detergents, and toiletries.
After some browsing, I purchased lavender hand/body wash and my friend was able to get a nice lip balm for a Mother’s Day gift. Initially, I was concerned about prices since you pay by weight at the register, but all in all, I only paid $5.25 for about 19 oz. of soap. Comparing this price to hand soaps on Amazon, I found that I could buy Method Foaming Hand Soap for $3.99 (before tax and shipping) at the time of writing this article. As a broke college student, the price is a factor, but with less than a $2 difference, the price at the refill shop seemed reasonable to me.
So, what’s my final verdict?
Taking advantage of refill shops is a great way to reduce waste. As someone looking for ways I can do better in my own home, refill shops are a great solution to the constant consumption of nonreusable containers and plastics. After learning of the locations near me, I hope to use them more in the future. I hope to discover and try other refill shops in my area, but since they are still fairly niche, I am unfortunately unable to do all of my shopping at these stores yet. For me, refill shops are definitely a step in the right direction on my journey with sustainable living.