here were nights I would lie in bed and dream up all the ways I could Refill every single one of my products. From pasta noodles to shampoo and lipstick. 

 

I became so excited about sustainable and Refilling I stocked up on glass Mason jars and storage bins, so I could buy bulk and refill everything. I even went as far as purchasing 5 lbs of raisins, pumpkin seeds, and raw almonds....the seeds didn't get eaten like I planned...

Mostly because I was busy eating my favorite snack, tortilla chips :) which come in an un-recyclable, un-refillable bag :( 

I have kept attempting to push this agenda of refills for my own family for years, albeit imperfect, and the retail world has begun to catch up as well. I've been so encouraged by the beauty industry and how accessible recyclable, refillable and bio degradable options are popping up rapidly along side the clean ingredients we love. 

 

In 2016 I opened Be Pure's first clean beauty shop. I focused on clean ingredients, making sure that every product we brought in would be vetted safe, and customers could shop without question of any hidden toxins. The REfillable, re-usable personal care and beauty products were hard to find, so I went for what the good  which was a ton of brands aiming to offer the cleanest highest performing products on the market. 

However, my trusty intuition felt a bigger problem on the horizon, and it felt kind of trashy. We had addressed the toxins in the bottles, but not the bottles and packing itself. There was a lot of plastic, non-refillable, non- recyclable plastic, or landfill fillers. Jumping into being the first clean beauty store in the south in 2016 felt like a huge undertaking in itself, but tackling a waste problem with it just felt almost exhausting. But strangely in 2020 I found a lot of hope for the future of the industry. I took a hard look at the shop, and quickly started to  take initiative to reduce waste, packing with plastic, and find sustainable zero waste replacements for common products that we use once and toss. This overflowed into every aspect of our store. Including toner REfills for Hidden Forest, refillable makeup, razors, skin care, and more to come. 

This Re-Fill revolution has really shown up strong and it's gaining ground daily as we wake up and realize that we are quickly depleating our resources of we don't slow down on consumption. 

 

You've likely noticed in the months the shop has begun to fill with our cute little biodegradable bamboo toothbrushes, refillable floss, menstrual cups all alongside our beloved refillable soaps, shampoo and house cleaner from the amazing Durham brand Fillaree.  

The package free organic bar soap, sisal soap bags, house made bath bombs without plastic wrapping are all intentional. Having plastic free, package free options, opens up an opportunity to avoid needless waste for extra boxes, and plastic placeholders that look shiny for a second and then....are tossed. The intention and offering to the divine in each of us is to offer an unpacked experience, and to relieve the stress the rest of the natural world feels from needing to replace boxes that are tossed, plastic wrapping, etc.

Next month you will notice your favorite makeup brand making RE-fills even more simplified by offering all their makeup in the simple re-fill packs and allowing you to choose the beautiful metal compacts, or their new biodegradable refillable paper compacts. They've also launched the liquid foundation, and we can't wait to share it with you! 

This new RE-fill revolution is already offering a breath to the earth in resources. They are finite, they are shared among us, and they are our life. So having a positive revolution of re-usable accessories, and refillable products is exciting and the only way forward for all species. 

I am thankful for each of you, for the resources we have, and for a new wave of consciousness around how we can utilize our creativity to make better products.