Bring your own containers!
As a Bluedot Living writer, I’m proud to say that I have not purchased a single plastic container of laundry detergent, dish soap, or dishwasher liquid in three years. I accomplished this change with help from a nearby “refillery,” to which I bring my own containers and fill up on cleaning items in bulk. Banishing all that plastic — especially the big jugs — feels great, not to mention that shopping at the refillery has led me to find new favorite, fresh, effective, and less toxic cleaning products.
Neighborhood refilleries and zero-waste stores are popping up in cities and towns across the state. I’ve enjoyed visiting several of them, including Debra’s Natural Gourmet’s refillery on Commonwealth Avenue in West Concord, which stands out for the sheer variety and interest of its offerings. There are multiple bulk food sections, seasonal themed tables with gifts for holidays such as Valentine’s or Father’s Day, all the refillable and sustainable home products you can imagine, and even an organic café.
Debra Stark opened the main business, Debra’s Natural Gourmet, in 1989. When a former dime store space opened next door, Debra had a vision for a zero-waste store to complement her natural grocery, dubbed the Best Health Food Store in the Country by Whole Foods Magazine in 2015. Before the new refillery opened, Debra died unexpectedly at age 75, according to her son and co-owner Adam Stark. Adam finished the job but noted that some of his mother’s contributions stand out.
Customers at Debra’s can choose from hundreds of bulk refilling options in the home goods section, including liquid soaps, surface cleaners, shampoos, body lotions, shower gels, laundry detergent, dishwashing soaps and more. Bulk sections of edible goods line the walls on both sides of the store, adding another 200 offerings.
Because of her, he says, the refillery has become the first business in Massachusetts to allow customers to legally bring and use their own containers. For sanitation reasons, Massachusetts regulations currently prohibit customers from using empty household containers in stores, but in the year before the refillery opened, Adam said his mother worked to get the state to change its law. When a statewide change proved unlikely, she petitioned the town of Concord for a variance to the container law, which it granted. This victory was a testament to her tenacity and her respected reputation in town, Adam says.
Customers at Debra’s can choose from hundreds of bulk refilling options in the home goods section, including liquid soaps, surface cleaners, shampoos, body lotions, shower gels, laundry detergent, dishwashing soaps and more. Bulk sections of edible goods line the walls on both sides of the store, adding another 200 offerings. There are organic pastas, grains, a wide range of beans, sweet treats, dried fruit, teas, and bulk coffee. “We have a little bit of everything,” refillery manager Dawn Megna says. She suggested I try the maple- and spice-coated fresh wild pecans from Texas. Wow! These would enhance any seasonal salad, I thought. Unfortunately, they were gone before I reached home, but I still had the packages of herbs and spices. Herbs found in bulk sections are generally fresher than those sold in bottles and smaller packages, and you can buy as little or as much as you want.
She suggested I try the maple- and spice-coated fresh wild pecans from Texas. Wow! These would enhance any seasonal salad, I thought. Unfortunately, they were gone before I reached home.
Adam marvels at the containers people bring to make good use of these bulk sections. It makes him smile and think of his mother. One customer, he says, brings the same containers her grandmother used for storing food at home. My friend Mary, who told me about the store and came with me on my first visit, brought a basket filled with reusable glass jars and got to filling them right away with black beans, wheat and rye berries, and some dried fruit, before heading over to the bulk spice area. When she puts her purchases in her pantry, they are easy to identify and ready for use — no plastic, packing, or waste involved in that transaction.
And that’s the whole purpose here: making it easier to make better choices at home. “Ninety-five percent of the things we sell are zero-waste,” Megna says. She notes that the store works to eliminate all single-use plastics. You find products like paper towels and toilet paper, for example, wrapped in paper instead of plastic. Instead of products typically made with plastic, you’ll find the alternatives like steel lunch containers and wooden scrub brushes and toothbrushes. Make-up and cosmetics drop not only the plastic containers or wrapping, but also any toxic ingredients.
New products and interesting solutions appear all the time. The Nantucket-based Eco Living Club, for example, makes a variety of lightweight and compact cleaning strips for everything from window-cleaning to laundry and all-purpose cleaning. I purchased their eucalyptus and citrus toilet bowl cleaning strips. Thirty-nine lightweight strips fit into a cardboard package about the size of a large envelope. Each strip is light as a feather, water soluble, and biodegradable without bleach or chlorine. Instructions: toss in the bowl to dissolve, then brush and flush.
My friend Mary, who told me about the store and came with me on my first visit, brought a basket filled with reusable glass jars and got to filling them right away with black beans, wheat and rye berries, and some dried fruit, before heading over to the bulk spice area. When she puts her purchases in her pantry, they are easy to identify and ready for use — no plastic, packing, or waste involved in that transaction.
“We also have about five percent of products that are just plain fun,” Megna adds. Some make great treats or gifts, like Amborella’s “Seed-bearing lollipops” for kids — pops without artificial dyes on biodegradable lollipop sticks filled with seeds kids can plant after enjoying the candy.
The refillery supports area businesses making sustainable goods and carries books from a local bookstore, paper and cards from a nearby Concord business, and locally made jewelry.
After you shop, you can enjoy an organic lunch or snack in the store’s café. Don’t forget to admire the café’s unique “vegetable” tables, with bases in the shapes of a giant beet, a carrot, and a turnip. Here was another, smaller battle Debra won — this time with her son. Debra loved the artistic tables and wanted to support a local artist. Adam, her son, liked the handcrafted tables, too, but thought there wasn’t room in the budget for them. Looks like Mom’s vote was the one that counted.
Debra’s Natural Gourmet refillery is located at 98 Commonwealth Ave., West Concord, Mass. (978) 371-7573.
Looks and sounds fantastic!