BOZEMAN, Mont. — Seven billion tons of plastic waste are generated worldwide each year, according to data from the United Nations, and it’s estimated that only 10% of that plastic gets recycled.
One store in Bozeman is on a mission to reduce that waste. The Refillery Supply Co. is the first of its kind refillable goods store in the area.
The idea is for customers to bring in their own reusable containers or purchase or choose from donated ones at the shop and refill them with a variety of items such as face wash, lotion and toothpaste tabs in an effort to reduce single-use plastic.
“We try to make it as approachable as possible,” said owner Sarah Sloan. “We don’t want it to be scary or complicated.”
Containers are weighed before and after they’re filled so customers only pay for the product inside, giving them the flexibility to purchase as much or as little as they would like.
Beyond being a fun way to shop, it’s good for the environment. Sloan says her store is on track to save more than 2,000 containers from landfills this year alone.
That’s a big deal, as global plastic production has doubled since 2000, per figures from the UN, and more than a third of that plastic is used for packaging.
“I have always been passionate about the environment,” said Sloan. “I grew up on the East Coast, (and) you start to notice plastic around the beaches, in the water, and it just starts to get under your skin.”
To tackle that problem, Sloan began operating The Refillery Supply Co. as a mobile business in 2020, popping up at farmers markets and offering refills of liquid products before making the transition to a brick-and-mortar storefront on Bozeman’s Northside this fall.
The storefront allowed her to expand her selection of products, focusing on goods made with clean ingredients sourced from vendors who work to reduce their own impact on the planet.
“I do a lot of research when I’m looking into bringing a new product on,” said Sloan. “I’ll look into if they take back containers, I’ll look into the ingredients that they’re putting in the product, and so it’s a kind of a big process, but it is really important for me to stick to bringing in those really good products made by people who care.”
She also tries to keep the products affordable so refilling is accessible to the community at large. Sloan says it’s a challenge, but while some products may be a little pricier up front, such as reusable paper towels, customers don’t have to keep repurchasing them and may end up saving money in the long run.
“I really don’t want this to be a business that is only for the upper echelon of Bozeman,” said Sloan. “I really want this to be something that everyone can afford.”
Stores like The Refillery Supply Co. are becoming more common in major cities across the country in an effort to chip away at the millions of tons of waste that are generated from packaging each year in the U.S.
And in the future, Sloan hopes to see more stores like hers here in Montana.
“Even if it’s competition for me in Bozeman, you know, the more refill stores that carry sustainable, nontoxic, low-waste products, the better,” said Sloan.
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