What am I getting for my money and why should I care?

How do our refills compare to common grocery or drugstore brands?

And what are you getting for your money when you shop with us?

These are commonly asked questions and we're here to help answer them!

Broadly speaking, our refills cost a bit more than a brand like Mrs. Meyers or Seventh Generation but less than a brand like Aveda.

Sometimes, our refill products (like laundry soap) work out to cost the same as a Target-type brand when you consider what they cost per load, instead of per ounce in the bottle. This is because our products are more concentrated and not unnecessarily diluted with water, so you use less at one time.

Example: our laundry soap costs $.42 per ounce, but you can get two loads of laundry from only one ounce of soap, so it works out to be .21 per load, which is the same as the current cost of Tide Free & Gentle at Target.

If you fill an old Tide bottle with our laundry detergent, it may cost more up front but it will last much, much longer. The beauty of bulk refilling also means you don't have to fill it all the way either! You can buy only as little or as much as you want at a time.

But shouldn't bulk shopping & refilling always be cheaper?

Bulk shopping & refilling is cheaper than if you bought these same brands in prepackaged, new containers. But comparing our refill brands to grocery store brands often isn't a true "apples-to-apples" comparison.

When comparing price, take into consideration all of the added benefits you receive at a small, sustainable, independent refill store that you don't get when you buy big commercial brands: 

• Truly clean, healthy ingredients instead of 'greenwashing'

• Cruelty free brands that are NOT part of multinational conglomerates that still test on animals

• Supporting small-batch makers & small businesses

• Supporting fair trade/ fair labor standards, and

• Investing in a closed-loop, circular economy that eliminates the need for single-use plastic waste

So the reason our refills may cost a little more than say Dawn, Seventh Generation, or Mrs. Meyers is because we hold our suppliers to higher standards than those brands. Our refill products are sourced from small businesses in the U.S. and Canada, made small-batch with clean ingredients, cruelty-free, and at fair wages/ labor standards.

Most importantly, our refills products are closed loop...

which means that our business and the makers share responsibility for returning & reusing the packaging in which the refills are shipped, so there is no unnecessary waste generated.

If products like Dawn, Tide, or Seventh Generation met these standards and took true responsibility for the impact of their production, they would cost much more than they do now.

Did you know that Seventh Generation, for example, might look like a "green" company, but it's owned by Unilever? Unilever is one of the largest and most powerful brand conglomerates in the world. They are a huge proponent of palm oil, and also responsible for the toxic recall of non-natural dry shampoos, for example.

Imagine what Dawn dish soap would cost if... its parent company took responsibility for reusing every single plastic bottle they produce, in addition to making a product free from toxic, synthetic, or petroleum-based ingredients?

You can also search & read more from the Environmental Working Group Guide to Healthy Cleaning database where brands marketed as 'clean' and 'natural,' like Mrs. Meyers ( 'D' rating), Seventh Generation (a 'D' rating), and Method (an 'F' rating) actually score low because of the poor quality of their ingredients.

When you refill with us...

In addition to saving & reusing the bottle you bring, you're also supporting products with actually clean, healthy ingredients made by independent small businesses, with cruelty free processes, and supporting a full circular economy from start to finish-- using your dollars to vote for the kind of world you want to live in.

Making your home more sustainable and free from unnecessary toxins and plastic waste takes time and planning, but when you also use other reusable products (like upcycled washable cloths instead of disposable paper towels) and make a plan to consume less in your household overall, this is also where you save money, along with your health and the environment.

And, as always, we're happy to chat more about any of our products in-store.