Help restore our earth with these zero waste businesses

Earth Day is a chance to show the planet some love. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, in Canada, “nearly 90 per cent of plastics end up in landfills, incinerators, lakes, parks and oceans.” The zero waste movement aims to do something about it.

Visiting a refillery is a simple place to start on your way to a more sustainable lifestyle. Refilleries let you re-use jars and other clean containers by refilling them with consumables, such as household cleaning products, dry goods, and personal care products; items that often come in single use, plastic packaging that ends up in the landfill.

Earth Day is the perfect time to visit your local refillery and take a step towards a zero waste life. Here are some local BC Marketplace businesses that can help you adopt a more earth-friendly lifestyle. Discover one in your community:

Chickpeace Zero Waste Refillery, Kelowna

Chickpeace is on a mission to help the local and global community reduce their plastic waste. The social enterprise acts as a local refill hub in Kelowna for foods, goods, cleaning, and skin care products.

ZeroWaste Emporium, Victoria

Victoria’s only zero waste grocery store is your spot to refill all your bulk items—from personal care and cleaning products to dry bulk goods and milk. For added convenience, ZeroWaste Emporium offers in-store pickup and home delivery on certain days, for a small fee.

Terrace Refillery, Terrace

Terrace Refillery is a family-owned zero waste store that helps locals live greener and refill their empty containers with whatever they need—from toothpaste to tea. This is another business dedicated to supporting other local, family-owned businesses by mostly stocking BC-made products.

The Den, Ucluelet

The Den offers sustainable products and cleaning solutions for locals, tourists, and businesses in the Pacific Rim Region. You can explore a new low waste lifestyle and discover new local brands at the same time. The Den also offers a refill program for local businesses and vacation rentals.

PickEco Refills, Chilliwack

PickEco Refills is the Fraser Valley’s only zero waste grocery store. They offer delivery within Chilliwack and once a week to Abbotsford, as well as curbside pickup. Or swing by with your empty jars and other clean containers to shop for pantry staples, household cleaners, personal care products, and more. Need some bamboo cutlery and reusable straws? They’ve got those, too.

Fulfill Shoppe, Port Coquitlam

If you live in the Tri Cities, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, or New Westminster, you can order all of your refillable dry goods and cleaning supplies from Fulfill Shoppe. They’ll pack them up in zero waste reusable packaging and deliver right to your door.

Eco Calypte Refillery Inc., Coquitlam

Zerowaste Refillery specializes in eco-friendly home cleaning supplies. Give zero waste cleaning a try and refill all your laundry, kitchen, washroom, and other supplies to reduce the waste and plastic that is so damaging to our environment.

Port Moody Refillery, Port Moody

Port Moody’s first refill shop opened their store in 2012 to help locals make the shift to a more eco-friendly lifestyle. After starting life as a tea shop, they now focus on bringing quality refillable goods and eco-friendly gifts to their community. Check out co-founder Julie’s favourite picks.

The Watering Can Supply, Bowen Island

The Watering Can Supply aims to help make it easier for people to switch to a more eco-friendly, lower waste lifestyle. The Bowen Island store offers sustainable products and refills, with an emphasis on Canadian-made items to keep it local.

The Refill Stop, New Westminster

This woman-owned refillery aims to make a difference by sourcing products that eliminate single use plastics. They stock refillable, environmentally-friendly household and body care products—over 70% made in Canada (50% in B.C.). In just a year since opening, they have refilled over 10,000 bottles and kept hundreds of single-use items out of landfills.

Refill Road, North Vancouver

Refill Road wants to make going green affordable. They offer an online and pop-up store service, plus free delivery in the local area, to make it easy and affordable for people to ditch disposable products. They make and source eco-friendly items with little or no plastic content, and offer them at supermarket prices.