World Refill Day is June 16th! We may be a little biased but we do love this day dedicated to learning more about ways to refill!
“World Refill Day is a global campaign to prevent plastic pollution and help people live with less waste. A day of action uniting our global community every year on 16th June, the campaign is designed to create an alternative vision of the future and accelerate the transition away from single-use plastic towards refill & reuse systems.”
Why Celebrate World Refill Day?
In 2018, plastics generation was 35.7 million tons in the United States and most of it isn’t getting recycled or reused because it wasn’t meant to be. Per the EPA, 5.6 million tons of plastics were combusted and 27 million tons of plastics went to our landfills. We are not able to recycle our way out of our single-use culture!
How Can You Make a Difference?
- Refuse Single-Use Plastics: Whenever possible, avoid buying single-use plastic items.
- Reuse and Refill: Opt for reusable containers and refill them instead of buying new ones.
- Recycle When Necessary: Properly recycle items that can't be reused.
- Spread the Word: Encourage friends and family to join the refill movement.
Sometimes we can’t avoid plastic, and that’s ok! We all get stuck and the best decision in the moment or in that instance is plastic. Try again with something else. If we all refused 1 single use item 1 time per year, just in the U.S., that would be over 330 million items refused and diverted from the waste stream each year! It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does need to start happening for so many reasons.
Wow! That statistic was a little staggering as a refill store. Just thinking of how many of us across the U.S. would love it if each of those containers were refilled. We would all be able to stay in business and thrive.
The planet urgently needs us all to do better too.
Simple Steps to Reduce Single-Use Waste
- Carry a Water Bottle: Always take your water bottle when you leave the house.
- Use Reusable Bags: Bring reusable grocery bags when shopping.
- Choose Naked Produce: Opt for unpackaged produce or use reusable produce bags.
- Find a Refill Store: Locate a nearby refill store and start your refill journey. Here’s a handy map to find one!
- Reuse Everything: Shop your pantry before going to the grocery store, shop your closet before “adding to cart”, shop your garage or your friends garage before buying that new tool. It will save you money AND help save the planet!
- Try Scrappy Cooking: Use food scraps creatively instead of tossing them. Check out some scrappy cooking tips by the Zero Waste Chef.
- Bring Your Own Containers: Ask your favorite takeout place if you can bring your own container for leftovers.
The ideas are endless! Drop a comment below if you have more ideas!
Tips for Integrating Refilling into Your Life
- Involve the Household: Get the whole household involved! Get the kids involved, your roommates, your soul mate, and the fuzzy friends too!
- Start with Easy Items: Begin with dish soap, hand soap, and laundry soap. These are simple to switch to refillable options. Have a dish soap bottle that works great still? Take it to a refillery! Love your cute hand soap container? Grab a free community jar at the refillery to fill up and take your hand soap home to refill the pretty container. Tired of lugging large jugs of toxic laundry detergent around? Try some concentrates at the shop!
- Create a Refill Routine: Ok, so you have the 3 items you want to refill. Now we need you to remember to do it and not get stuck with an empty bottle and have to run to the big box store. It’s ok if that happens! Just start over again! To try and prevent that, use a bottle that goes between home and the refillery. When it gets empty, set it by the door so next time you are heading out and will be near the refillery you will remember to take it.
This is a transition…we were taught over several years to use and “recycle” containers. We are just getting back to the way things were before when we reused, refilled, and only purchased what we needed. We will get there! But seriously, we need to start…like now. Go find and support a refillery!
The Impact of Refilling on Your Life
The environmental impact of refilling and reusing is going to make your life exponentially better and you get to feel good about the choices you are making! Do it for yourself. Do it for the next generation. Do it for the animals. Do it for your health. Do it for your image. Just do it!
Plastic is made of oil. It requires energy and precious resources to create virgin plastic AND to recycle it. It takes a lot less to refill and reuse it.
Refilling and reusing will help our climate crisis. As will driving less, consuming less, and reducing our overall waste. This doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun! Just be thoughtful with choices.
Supporting small, local businesses doing the work is a great way to earn some karma points too!
Refilling and Reusing is a Deposit for our Future
Every time we refill and reuse a container, one less container needs to be created saving resources for our future. Every time we refuse a single use container, it is a deposit for a future with less plastic pollution in our oceans, rivers, streets, and landfills. We save money for our futures, let's also save natural resources for our futures and help keep them beautiful. Join the refill revolution, find a local refillery, and refill and reuse everything you can!
