What is a Low Waste Refill Shop?

What is the Point?

The overall goal of this shop is to create a space where everyone feels safe and empowered to try something new.

The transition to functional sustainability doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. It takes conscious choices, community support, resources and accessibility. Our goal is to create that space for Cedar Rapids and beyond. 

We hope to remove the “zero waste” stigma. We hope to create a space that encourages you to question the way you live & the products you use. This is about us coming together as a community and changing a few small things to make a big impact. We hope that our shop is space for you to learn about the alternatives, the planet, your community, and what we can all do each day to make our planet a better place. 

How Does It Work?

In our shop we are excited to be able to supply you with many of your household product needs, package free! We encourage you to bring your own CLEAN & DRY containers! The shop will have a selection of glass and aluminum containers for purchase that you can fill! We will also have a community shelf of clean & dry containers left behind by other shoppers. All you jar hoarders. This is your time to shine. 

• We weigh empty container

• You fill with product

• We weigh again & subtract container weight 

• You pay per oz of product filled.

Check our our blog products-available-at-the-refill-bar for updated lists of what we have on the bar! Reminder that only powder products are available online at this time. 

Our refill bar operates on what we call a Closed Loop System. A few of our suppliers actually take their buckets & barrels back to cleaned and reused. Those that don't, we keep the buckets for use in our studio, or donate them to local organizations to be used for other things! Nothing gets thrown away!