Wandering through the streets of Pasadena, one will surely notice the quaint shops that line the avenues. One in particular is My Zero Waste store, a sustainable business that prides itself on being Pasadena’s first refill store. The store places an emphasis on helping individuals reduce plastic and other non recyclable waste by lessening the use of excessive packaging and unethical sourcing.
In many areas around Los Angeles and beyond, refill stations, also known as zero waste shops, are popping up in an attempt to revolutionize sustainability—a concept that supports the conservation and careful usage of resources—and meet the needs of humans while maintaining a clean environment for future generations to come. As their name suggests, customers who visit these zero waste shops bring their own empty containers to weigh, fill them up with their desired product, then pay for what they’ve filled. While some may see no need for such stations when large supermarket and skincare chains exist, these stores are exactly what people need in an age where waste is prevalent and more often than not ignored.
Refill shops, much like My Zero Waste store, tend to offer a variety of products, from cooking ingredients to hair and skin care products which all follow the ‘bring-your-own-container’ formula. These stores tend also to stock ethical or environmentally friendly products and brands for items that are not ‘refillable’, which shows their commitment to spreading awareness in all aspects of sustainability.
According to MIT Technology Review, only about five to six percent of plastic actually gets recycled, and about 430 million tons of plastic is produced each year, which really puts into perspective the amount of waste that is used to package a person’s favorite skincare products, for example (The answer? A lot.) By shopping at refill stores, single use plastic wrapping and packaging is cut down significantly; not only that, but this process also encourages shoppers to reuse their old containers, thus reducing the energy that is used to make them.
Refill stores have also been praised for not only promoting the practice of buying only what one needs, as well as giving consumers a tight knit community to share their ethical, sustainable practices with. On the My Zero Waste Store website, a proud counter displays its total plastic elimination of 9,672,803 based on sales up to 2024. That is most definitely something to celebrate with other environmentally motivated community members.
While it is unsure whether refill shops will be the future of shopping or not, it is clear that these suppliers are ardent supporters of sustainability—and is a spectacular image of what everyone should strive for in order to maintain the environment.
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNSPLASH
