As part of our focus on real solutions to plastic pollution this Plastic Free July, our team at Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC) is highlighting our favorite reuse and refill shops across the U.S. Thankfully, a growing number of businesses are now embracing plastic-free principles—and they can help us waste less and live better. While not every business is perfectly plastic free, these local gems are standouts for their commitments to their communities by offering reuse and refill, opportunities for involvement, zero-waste events, and more.
Centre Markets, State College, PA (@centremarkets_pa)
Born from the need to connect local farmers and food producers to communities during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Sabine Carey created Centre Markets, a central Pennsylvania online farmers market where customers can place online orders each week for pickup or delivery on Saturdays. The online market is a hit with locals who want access to fresh, organic, and local food without waiting for the seasonal farmers markets to start back up, or needing to venture into crowded spaces to stock up on food.
Centre Markets has a community of loyal customers paired with consistent farmers and producers. This allows for all manners of glass, egg cartons, and even paper bags to be returned and reused each week, minimizing waste. The success of the online market has paved the way for Centre Markets to secure a permanent location that will soon be a one-stop shop for fresh and local food along with a retail space that will sell plastic-free and reusable goods—all sourced from Pennsylvania.
– Kristin Getz, Operations and Finance Manager
ETHOS, Capitola and Los Gatos, CA (@ethossantacruz) & Fillgood in Berkeley, CA, with delivery to the Bay area (@fillgood.co)
Ethos is a low-waste living shop and refillery, with two locations in California. Their focus is on curating a selection of refillable and reusable options for home, bath, body, clothing, and more that minimize our impact on the planet and people. Ethos’s work is rooted in their local communities to encourage conscious consumerism that is fun, approachable, and aligned with their ethos. Their refillery will refill your brought-in bottles and containers (glass and stainless steel is preferred). Ethos is a PPC Business Member, and donates their California State single-use (paper) bag fee money to PPC.
PPC Business Member FillGood in Berkeley, California, is a wonderful example of a local business providing its community with zero-waste home, bath and body products, all easily procured through their storefront or via home delivery. With more than 400 sustainable options, including 130 bulk products that can be refilled, owner Stephanie Regni aims to offer a plastic-free replacement for every product that people use daily. Some of FillGood’s bulk suppliers include other PPC Business Members, such as Meliora and Plaine Products.
— Jackie Nuñez, Founder of The Last Plastic Straw and Advocacy & Engagement Manager
FullFillery, Takoma Park, MD (@fullfillery)
FullFillery is a zero-waste store filled with a wide selection of household goods and personal care products that are made to be refillable, have reusable or biodegradable and compostable packaging, or best yet, have no packaging at all. Located conveniently in a prime location in downtown Takoma Park, Maryland, this shop is a top spot for stopping in while out and about walking, biking, or patronizing other local businesses. FullFillery carries items from several PPC Business Members, including Meliora and Simple Ecology. It won the Best of Washington DC 2022 for Best Handmade Eco-Friendly Products. I also recommend using the Package Free DC directory to help find many other stores that will let you refill using your own containers, including MOM’s Organic Market.
– Julia Cohen, Co-Founder and Managing Director
The Lands at Hillside Farms, Shavertown, PA (@landsathillsidefarm)
I’ve been going to the dairy store at The Lands at Hillside Farms in Shavertown, Pennsylvania, since I was a little girl. I remember my grandma returning her empty glass milk bottles, getting her deposit back, and then buying fresh milk in new glass bottles. It was just what you did! The Hillside Farms dairy store still uses this deposit system for their refillable glass milk bottles. It’s so easy and it makes sense.
The Lands at Hillside Farms is now a historic, non-profit 501(c)(3) 428-acre educational dairy farm. Their mission is to “teach life choices that are healthy, logical, and sustainable so that those born 200 years from now will have access to the same or better opportunities and resources.” I still love stopping by Hillside to buy milk and ice cream, see the peaceful farm animals, and remember those fun trips with my grandma.
— Jen Fela, Vice President, Programs & Communications
Los Angeles County Farmers Markets, CA
Based in sunny Southern California, I love cooking and eating unpackaged seasonal fresh fruits, vegetables, and foods from my garden. I also love buying them from the myriad of local farmers who sell their foods at our terrific Los Angeles farmers markets located in different neighborhoods of the city on most days of the week. It’s a pleasure to spend time in my community, talk with the people who grow our food, and fill my cloth bags and baskets with healthy foods as I support these local farmers. Find a market and the day and schedule here: A Day-by-Day List of Farmers Markets for Los Angeles County.
— Dianna Cohen, Co-Founder + CEO
Reboot Eco, Middletown, CT (@rebooteco)
Reboot Eco is a set of two Connecticut zero waste and refill shops that offer affordable and practical plastic-free solutions to fill your home and garden, body and hygiene, and family needs. When Reboot Eco Founder Yasemin Ugurlu learned the truths about plastic pollution and the realities of recycling—especially the fact that plastic was never made to be recycled—she created these shops to offer Connecticut communities solutions that help end wastefulness. Reboot Eco also hosts swap events and repair cafes to help instill share and repair values and skills throughout the Connecticut community and beyond.
— Erica Cirino, Communications Manager
The Refillery Co., Wilmington, North Carolina (@therefilleryco.ilm)
You will find the Refillery Co. in the Cargo District, right in the heart of downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. This iconic and charming area is made up of old cargo shipping containers repurposed to support a vibrant array of small local businesses. At the woman-led Refillery Co., which just celebrated its one-year anniversary, you can find all your handmade home cleaning and personal care needs. I personally love their hand soap! The Cargo District is one of my favorite spots in Wilmington, known for its unique setting, great food, and fun vibes.
— Rachel Bustamante, Campaign Coordinator
Simple, San Francisco, CA (@simpleshop.sf)
Simple, a local refillery and zero waste store in the Cole Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, brightens my day every time I walk in. Abby, store owner, is a wonderful person who warmly welcomes her community to avoid single-use plastic items in their everyday lives and provides easy strategies to adopt reuse instead. She has a curated list of sustainable and plastic-free personal care items (e.g., shampoos, moisturizers, sunscreens, and body washes) and household items ranging from laundry soap to all-purpose cleaning agents. She also regularly hosts in person meetings for Reusable SF, to advance a reuse policy in San Francisco that I am an active participant in. Her store is charming and is having a real local impact!
— Aidan Maguire, Coalition Manager
Sustain LA, Los Angeles, CA (@sustain_LA)
Tucked away on Monte Vista Street, in the charming Los Angeles, California, neighborhood of Highland Park, is the quaint and colorful Sustain LA. Open since 2018, this women-run refill station offers a wide range of household, body care, and zero-waste living products. Bring your own containers, or purchase some of theirs to get you started. Sustain LA also offers zero waste event planning and rentals, delivery services, and guides on how to go zero waste at home. With a small grocery store just down the street offering refillable kombucha on tap, it’s hard not to want to hop over to Highland Park anytime you’re running low on supplies.
— Amelia Hanson, Project Manager
Tippecanoe Herbs, Milwaukee Community Herbalist And Apothecary, Milwaukee, WI(@tippecanoe_herbs)
Located in the Midwest, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Bayview neighborhood, Tippecanoe Herbs is full of plastic-free goodies and bulk items such as their Adaptogenic Gold Milk turmeric blend. The store is full of aromatic and medicinal herbs, teas, and tinctures that you can buy in bulk, plus personal care and wellness items such as bar soaps, essential oils, salves, tarot cards, and incense. They even have a tea bar where you can order up your favorite herbal concoction and community classes to learn more about the power of herbs.
— Erica Heisdorf Bisquerra, Social Media Manager
Wonderland Herbs, Teas, and Spices, Bellingham, WA (@wonderland_teas_spices_)
Tucked away in the heart of downtown Bellingham, Washington, sits Wonderland Herbs, Teas, and Spices, my favorite spot to find a spice or tea blend to add a little flavor to life. This family-owned tea shop has been serving the Bellinghamians since 1976. You can always count on Linda, the owner, or Terra, her daughter, to be behind the counter ready to advise on the best herbs and weigh them into your glass jars, to be used time and time again. In the cold, gray months of winter, my ideal weekend has a trip to Wonderland and the local used bookstore, before a plastic-free evening reading and sipping by the fire.
— Madison Dennis, Project Manager
Take Action
These local businesses radiate inspiration and optimism as we move toward a future defined by conscious consumption and community-driven change. Use Plastic Free Future’s Reuse Map and Ecorate’s Refill Map to locate a reuse/refill shop in your area and start your journey towards your plastic-free future. By frequenting community-focused businesses dedicated to ending plastic pollution and waste, you can lessen your individual environmental impact while also being an example of the global, systems change we need.
Go a step further and tell U.S. representatives and world leaders to support a strong, binding UN Plastics Treaty that ends plastic pollution and injustice, and mandates strict and precautionary regulation of plastic chemicals. Join the movement to advocate for real solutions.
