We’ve been there. You run out of laundry detergent, hand soap, or dish soap, and it’s so easy to just grab a bottle at the grocery store while you’re there. Convenience is huge, especially when you’re busy, and it has been part of your routine…before you found refill stores.
The Price Tag Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
But let’s pause and think about the cost of buying your trash- I mean, container- over and over again.
There’s the price of the product, then the packaging along with the resources used to manufacture and transport it, and the end of the life of the container. That’s a lot to consider.
We believe low-waste living is about progress, not perfection. If you happen to need to grab something you’re out of before you can get to the refill store, that’s ok. Refill that container next time or keep it as a backup for the next time, because there will likely be a next time. Zero shame in that.
Do what you can, when you can.
The Cost We See
The cost we see for everyday products at the checkout in a big box store includes the packaging, but not the cost of the end of life of that packaging. Laundry soap costs x amount of money. Done. But not really.
For instance, we refill a lot of large plastic laundry jugs that do 90 loads of laundry. Most mainstream liquid laundry detergent has 60-90% water in it. Yikes! Aren’t we adding water during the wash cycle?
The liquid (and powder) laundry soaps we carry at Refill Mercantile are concentrated, which means we only have to fill that 90-load – 135-ounce container one-third of the way to wash 90 loads. Yep. It’s that much of a difference.
Wondering what the price comparison is?
For the 90 loads – 135 ounces, the listed price is $.16 /fluid ounce. You use one and a half ounces per load. The cost per load is $.24. Not bad for an eco brand!
Our cost per ounce for liquid laundry is $.55/ounce. You use half an ounce per load. The cost per load is $.275.
That’s $.035 more per load with us. But here’s the thing, you get to reuse your container and not put it in the waste stream to hopefully be recycled, potentially incinerated, or sent to the landfill to break down into microplastics.
A family of 4 does an average of 8 loads of laundry per week. 8 x $.035 = $.28 x 52 weeks = $14.56 more per year. That’s it. And you don’t have to wonder if your laundry bottle got recycled.
The Cost We Often Forget
Every time we buy a new packaged product, we bring home more than just the product, we bring home its packaging.
That packaging requires resources to make it, a place to manufacture it, transportation for all of this, and a plan for the end of life.
At Refill Mercantile, we prioritize a closed-loop system with our refill partners. This means the larger containers we receive the product in are sent back to the manufacturer to be sanitized and reused.
Yes, resources were used to make the larger containers and transportation cost is in there but they are getting another life without having to be recycled. And those larger containers are filling hundreds of smaller containers, saving those smaller ones from the waste stream.
What Happens If We Keep Buying New Bottles?
First of all, more containers end up in the waste stream. If the average household replaces its dish soap bottle every month, that is 12 new bottles made, used, and sent off to the waste stream. Then look at what else is coming in a new container, and then you all of a sudden have way more plastic bottles in your life than you ever wanted.
When we send things away to the trash or recycle, they have to go somewhere…
New virgin plastic is also fueling big oil. Why do they even need any more money in their pockets?
Refilling is a great way to vote with your dollar and send a message to the big box stores, big corporations, and big oil that we want change.
Supporting smaller independent businesses who carry small brands doing the hard work behind the scenes and taking responsibility for the end of the life of their packaging means we have a world with less waste, less corporate greed, and less money in the hands of billionaires. We think this is a win-win!
Something else to think about is brand identity with packaging. Your parents used that orange laundry bottle, you will likely start out using it too. We can make changes and choose something better.
The Cost to Our Resources
Packaging has a footprint before it even reaches our homes.
That container didn’t magically appear at the manufacturer. Precious raw materials, energy, water, and transportation were used to make it. Plastic packaging often begins with fossil fuel feedstocks, while glass, metal, and paper packaging also require resources and energy.
Recycled content should be the norm. Glass and aluminum are infinitely recyclable without losing their quality. Plastic degrades with each recycling cycle and requires some virgin plastic to make it.
Reusing and refilling is often times better than recycling. Closed-loop systems should also be the norm.
What if More Households Refilled?
If each of the 134 million households in the US refilled their laundry or dish or whatever bottle, just one time per year, that would save 134 million containers from the waste stream.
Mind blown!
If every household refilled their monthly dish soap bottle, that would be 1.6 billion dish soap bottles saved from the waste stream…we CAN do this!
In Petaluma, we have refilled over 33,000 refills so far. It is just a drop in the bucket, but it is making a huge collective difference!
What Do I Do Now?
Start with one thing. Already refilling? Tell your friends and family about it. It can catch on and with zero judgment, for those times when you just can’t make it to the refill store.
The best container is the one you already own. Find your local refill store and reuse and refill it!
