Refill Shops: Customers Bring Their Own Containers Ranging From Used Jars to Tupperware To Reduce the Use of Disposable Containers

Such stores represent a necessary cultural shift in one of the world's largest consumer economies, where the average person generates 4.9 pounds of waste per day, according to government statistics.

Marino said that the goal is to assist anyone, from beginners to experts, on their journey to reduce waste, citing paper towels as a personal catalyst.

One of the first things my family did was stop using paper towels, which resulted in a significant reduction in the waste that we were producing on a weekly basis, said Marino, who co-founded the store with her husband.

'Reduce, Reuse' First

Toothpaste tabs are placed in a jar. A spout of maple syrup drips visciously.

Dishwasher powder crunches beneath the metal scoop's tip.

One familiar sound is missing from the chorus of consumer goods: the crinkle of plastic wrap, as per Phys.org.

The lack of packaging is the point at Mason & Greens in Washington-the small shop selling household goods and groceries is one of the dozens of zero-waste refill stores sprouting up in US cities from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

Customers bring their own containers to fill with bulk items, ranging from used jars to Tupperware.

People have even brought in the sleeves that their newspapers come in, according to owner Anna Marino, 34.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, less than a third of US municipal solid waste was recovered for recycling or composting in 2018, and only about 9% of plastic material was recycled.

These statistics are why Marino requests that suppliers send shipments in compostable or minimal packaging.

"We can't recycle our way out of the plastics crisis," said Jenny Gitlitz of the Beyond Plastics advocacy group.

She cited toxins in plastic that can cause cancer, genetic mutations, and endocrine disruptors.

Furthermore, microplastics have been discovered in almost every environment, from the Mariana Trench to Mount Everest, as well as in the human body, including the lungs and blood.

Plastic, unlike aluminum and glass, can only be recycled a few times before its polymers degrade.

In addition, many types are not widely recyclable to begin with.

"If all else fails, recycle," said Shelie Miller of the University of Michigan's School of Environment and Sustainability.

"I think people frequently go straight to the recycle bin and forget to reduce and reuse," she told AFP.

Miller warned that simply changing the way people consume will not solve the problem of plastic waste, as demonstrated by Mason & Greens.

Creating a sustainable future "really is a complete shared responsibility model," she explained, involving corporations, governments, and waste handlers.

Meanwhile, Rini Saha, co-owner of the FullFillery, a Washington-area refill shop in Takoma Park, Maryland, hopes to make a difference from the ground up.

"If all else fails, recycle," says Shelie Miller of the University of Michigan's School of Environment and Sustainability.

"I think people frequently go straight to the recycle bin and forget to reduce and reuse," she told AFP.

Miller warns that simply changing the way people consume will not solve the problem of plastic waste, as demonstrated by Mason & Greens.

Creating a sustainable future "really is a complete shared responsibility model," she explained, involving corporations, governments, and waste handlers.

Meanwhile, Rini Saha, co-owner of the FullFillery, a Washington-area refill shop in Takoma Park, Maryland, hopes to make a difference from the ground up.

Saha and her colleagues create a variety of body care and cleaning products on-site, which are available for refill or purchase in a returnable container.

Emoke Gaidosch, a chemist by training, poured liquid soap she had made into a large receptacle on a recent Wednesday morning.

Aside from the lack of packaging, Miller believes that bulk sales could have even greater environmental benefits by allowing consumers to buy only what they require.

This, in turn, can help to eliminate the effects of a product's entire lifecycle, from the energy and resources used to create it to methane released when new organic waste decays in landfalls.

The Advantages of Zero Waste Stores

Most major retailers have already changed their business practices to reduce waste and limit the environmental damage they each cause, as per Re-Gen Waste.

However, unless the shop defines itself by strict sustainability guidelines and goes above and beyond to demonstrate its efforts, there is usually more that it could be doing.

Zero waste shops are a relatively new movement that demonstrates that physical stores can still exist and thrive while not contributing to the earth's problems.

After all, online shopping is not without its drawbacks.

However, as the general public becomes more aware of today's environmental issues, an increasing number of people are opting to buy their goods from a dedicated alternative.

A zero-waste shop encourages customers to live a more waste-free lifestyle by eliminating packaging and encouraging the use of containers from home to fill and refill with bulk wholefoods, natural beauty and cleaning products, and other items.

These supplies are kept and displayed in various dispensers throughout the shop, creating an experience that has been described as having an old-world feel with a fun modern twist.