In honour of April 22nd being Earth Day, today on the blog we have the lovely ladies from FILL, a local refill store that helps customers decrease their plastic consumption and reduce overall waste. They have so many great products that I truly love and the owner and I go way back (story below)! They are sharing how to “Fill” Your Kitchen With These 5 Items To Reduce Waste.
Teresa and I go way back – to 1998 when we met in dietetics school (scroll down to see the picture of us – I couldn’t find one of us when we were in school)! I’m so proud of what she has accomplished – she really is an incredible human.
I wanted the ladies from FILL to come on here and bring light to a few items in our homes and kitchens that we could swap out for more sustainable options. We all have a role in creating a more sustainable world, and it starts in our everyday actions and minimizing single-use plastics. Since opening they have saved over 109,201 plastics from the landfill through their stores alone; so they are really walking the talk! How amazing in that? Enough out of me… Take it away ladies!
Hey everyone! It’s Teresa and Gabi from FILL Kelowna! Today we are sharing a little bit about who we are and what we do, all while giving you all some valuable tips on how to reduce your waste at home…
What is FILL?
FILL is a refill store (locations in Kelowna and Vernon) to help make plastic reduction easy, accessible and affordable. With a well curated selection of amazing plant based products and organic products, you will be able to “fill” your personal hygiene and household cleaning needs in the way that Mother Nature intended!
FILL was founded by Teresa after growing concern about the impact of plastic on our environment and our oceans. Plastic NEVER goes away, and our oceans are filling with plastic which is impacting our marine life. We thought we had an easy solution with recycling but only 9% of plastics worldwide are recycled and many of them just end up in the land fill or the oceans (the stats are better for BC).
Teresa knew we had to do better and help make zero waste more accessible and affordable while still offering amazing and effective products. A full year was spent researching lovely organic face care products, natural deodorants that really work, salon grade shampoos, laundry soaps, safe fabric softeners, and more. Customers can come and fill their own containers, such as shampoo bottles and laundry soap containers, with plant based and organic products at a fraction of the price. And our customers LOVE our products!
Gabi was a natural addition to the team! After being hired for a weekend position for the Christmas Season, the relationship quickly developed into a business partnership for the second location in Kelowna. Gabi is a steward for the earth and has a passion to help make our world a greener place. Plus, she loves dogs as much as Teresa does!
Simple Sustainable Product Switches to Use at Home
These household items are some of our favourites (Tori’s too), and are easy switches to make within your home to help reduce your overall plastic. It can be tempting to grab a plastic bottle at the store, but using a quality eco-friendly option can make a big impact!
1. Countertop Cleanser (Sapadilla)
Oh sweet heavens, this product is an all-time favourite! With the fresh and crisps smells of grapefruit and a hint of bergamot, you can’t go wrong. This is a lovely cleaner that is perfect for cleaning your counters to offer streak free cleaning while maximizing the smells with these punchy essential oils. It can be used on counters, stainless steel, taps, and mirrors. It is the perfecting finishing clean after a meal.
2. Dish Soap (Sapadilla)
For all of those people that don’t love washing dishes, this is a game changer. It is like aroma therapy while washing the dishes! This dish soap is a nice little eco cleaner that is plant based. You won’t get as many bubbles as the grocery store brands because it does’t have the synthetic SLS but you will still get all of the cleaning power!
Available in 3 different essential oil scents: Sweet Lavender + Lime, Rosemary + Peppermint and Teresa’s favourite Grapefruit + Bergamot.
3. Extra Large Reusable Bags (ReZip)
The average person uses 540 sandwich bags a year! These reusable bags can really help reduce single use plastics. The one that I love the most is the extra large, as it has so many versatile functions. Buy bread from the baker in brown paper to avoid the plastic bag and then place the bread in the ReZip bag to help keep it fresh! If you buy any meat, go to a local butcher and have them wrap it in brown butcher paper (without plastic, of course!) and freeze the meat in the ReZip bag to keep it fresh.
You can store your baking in them or freeze your seasonal berries to help avoid the single use plastic containers berries normally come in. So many amazing uses!
4. Dish Washer Tabs (The Unscented Company)
These little gems are powerhouses for cleaning and are a customer favourite! We sell thousands a month because they are so popular.
They are plastic-free dishwasher tabs that are wrapped in a water soluble plastic-free pouch. They help clean your dishes with more natural ingredients while being tough on dirty dishes. We have recently been using them to clean things with stubborn stains, such as tea cups and pots. Just pop one in and the work is done for you!
5. Scrub Brush & Compostable Dish Cloths
The Redecker wooden handle dish brushes are a dream for replacing the plastic dish scrubbers. They help get the hard to remove, stuck on food from your dishes, while looking super cute with the wooden handle.
One of Gabi’s all time favourites is the Compostable Dish Cloths! I swear almost every customer goes out of the store with a cloth! These are such a great cloth for cleaning your dishes, your ceramic stove tops, mirrors or glass. The bonus is they often don’t smell like normal cloths can, as the fabrics are naturally anti-bacterial. And the best part is at the end of its life, it can be composted! Teresa always saves hers though to use as paper towel because each one of these can absorb 17 times its own weight! Good for the environment and functional!
Thanks so much for letting us share a little about our refill stores and ways to help make our world a greener place! We are passionate stewards for the earth and hope to help others find ways ways to live with less plastic. You don’t have to be a zero waster to make a big impact. We like to think that every little eco step counts to help make our world a greener place.
How To Learn More & Shop Sustainable
Feel free to pop on by our IG accounts @fillkelownasrefillstore and @fillvernonsrefillstore and shoot us a message or ask us questions about the Refill Revolution. We love connecting with other likeminded people hoping to make switches to less plastic.
Our website also offers a full range of our products. You can find the above favourite items by searching ‘fraiche’ on our websites at fillkelowna.ca or fillvernon.ca. Use the code ‘fraiche’ for 10% off of the above items in a box set (expires May 6,2021).
FILL- Kelowna’s Refill Store is located in Kelowna at 3155 Lakeshore Road, Kelowna BC
(p) 778-692-FILL
FILL- Vernon’s Refill Store is located in Vernon at 2306 Highway 6, Vernon BC
(p)250-241-FILL
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