A group of women are trying to open Greater Sudbury's first zero-waste store, but they need your help to do it.
An Indiegogo campaign with a $15,000 goal has been launched for start-up expenses such as purchasing equipment and refitting the storefront for The Nickel Refillery, located at 227 Regent St., across from Lougheed's Flowers.
So far, the campaign has reached about 30 per cent of its goal, or nearly $3,500. The business owners hope to open up the store by the end of the summer.
While zero-waste shopping is already available locally for some items thanks to Bulk Barn's move in 2017 to allow customers to bring their own containers, there's still a gap for many types of products.
Lizanne Anawati, Trista LeBlanc, Sharon Roy and Julie Rodriguez plan to offer common household and personal care products that are unpackaged or sustainably packaged, many of them in bulk.
This includes items such as shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, laundry supplies, dish soap, ingredients for DIY products, sustainable kitchen goods and products made by local artisans.
They're also looking into food products including olive oil and maple syrup.
Basically “the things that we all currently struggle to find in Sudbury in a bulk option or a refill option,” said Anawati.
“There's definitely a demand. Zero waste shops are popping up all over Canada and the world. They are becoming much more mainstream. Everybody is feeling the need to do something more.”
Whenever possible, The Nickel Refillery will aim to offer local or Canadian-made products.
All you need to do is bring your own clean container, and from there, it's kind of like strawberry picking.
The container will be weighed before it's filled with, for example, hand soap, and then the weight of the container is be subtracted when calculating the purchase cost.
Buying items in this manner is a way to combat our plastic problem — the excessive amount of packaging comes with just about everything these days, the women say.
Canada is one of the worst waste producers per capita in the world, and Greater Sudbury alone produced 100,000 tonnes of waste in 2015, said Anawati.
“And we're realizing more and more that packaging has its place, plastic has its place, but there are a lot of unnecessary things being packaged today that we can help prevent,” she said.
Even if you put packaging in the recycling bin, only nine per cent of what's in those bins actually gets recycled, said Leblanc.
“So you might feel like you're doing your part when you're recycling, but ultimately a lot of it doesn't get recycled,” she said.
As a social enterprise, The Nickel Refillery will function as a community space for zero-waste initiatives, such as clothing and toy swaps, DIY products, composting, waste-free lunches, ect.
The store will also work with other community waste reduction groups to assit with waste reduction initiatives across the city.
If you're interested in kicking in a few dollars to The Nickel Refillery's Indiegogo campaign, you can view the page here.
The business owners say if you don't want to use Indiegogo, they can also arrange for an e-transfer.
They're also looking for people who have skills they can contribute as they're attempting to get the store up and running.
If you think you can help in any way, or if you just want to check out what The Nickel Refillery is all about, visit the business' Facebook page.
