Maybe you’re thrilled to find a refill store. Maybe you’re new to kicking the habit of single-use products. No matter where you are on the journey, the owner of Refillism is “super happy” to have your support.
“‘Ism’ is a movement, so that’s why I named the store Refillism,” says Elizabeth Bower. “We want people to join the refill movement with us. We really want people to join in on doing something better for the planet.”
Bower opened Refillism in York’s Market District on Earth Day, April 22, 2022. It’s designed to offer options for people who want to refill their commonly used household and personal products but haven’t found a local outlet yet.
It all comes from Bower’s personal ‘ism’—a frugal mindset inherited from her parents and, she hopes, being passed to her kids. Why buy a new pair of jeans when you can find them at a thrift store? Why use paper towels when you can set up a system for reusing clean napkins and collecting the dirties?
She has always looked for one thing more she can do for the planet, and she started wondering if others felt the same way. Research led her to the concept of refilling. She began selling cleaning concentrates from her basement and at craft shows. She realized the area needed a refill retail space when customers constantly asked, “Where’s your store?”
Refillism helps people ease into refilling, one step at a time.
“That’s our goal here,” she says. “It’s not to have someone come in and feel they have to change everything in their lives. Everybody is doing the best they can, and if you change one thing each day, then you’re doing better.”
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Refillism offers products and accessories for the transition, instore and online. Large glass jars on a center island allow customers to pump hand soap, body lotions, and hair care and laundry products. Powders and concentrates of soaps, detergents, and essential oils line the shelves, along with tooth floss refills and toothpaste-alternative tooth tabs, popular with hikers and campers. Reusable menstrual cups save a small fortune on feminine hygiene products. Laundry sheets preserve water by, in essence, dehydrating liquid detergent.
Bring your own container or bag, or purchase a spray bottle or jar curated for your product, such as a spray pump for dry shampoo. For many products, buy only what you need, and pay by the ounce, so you’re not adding yet another
barely used item to the graveyard of “miracle” products that didn’t deliver.
“It’s the ultimate try-out store,” says Bower. “How great would it be if you could do that with the things you buy in the regular store?”
On April 22 this year, Refillism will mark its first anniversary, its second participation in Downtown Inc’s Go Green in the City, and Earth Day, “so it’s a trifecta here for us,” says Bower. The shop’s location in a building adorned with local artist Suzanne Rende’s mural of a grazing deer “just felt right,” she adds. “I like the downtown feel and being a part of the community.”
Downtown Inc, York County Economic Alliance, and Cultural Alliance have been supporters from the beginning, and Refillism returns the favor by participating in events such as First Friday, partnering with other stores, and serving as a drop-off for CRDC Global, the York-based recycler turning all forms of household plastic into a concrete strengthener.
Products from local makers include soaps and shampoo bars from Woodburne Naturals, and Green Daisy Soaps’ shower steamers that unlock a mist of peppermint and eucalyptus.
“It’s a spa thing,” says Bower. “It’s not a necessity, but it’s fun to have.”
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Bower’s husband, Nicholas, commutes to work at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He has been “an awesome support for the vision,” says Bower. With their kids, a daughter, 8, and son, 12, they enjoy family time with sports, movies, and fun activities.
Adults who commit to eco-friendly practices are setting an example for their children, Bower notes.
“When parents come in and refill something as simple as their multi-surface cleaner, the kids are watching,” she says. “When they’re older and in charge of their own households, they’ll remember and think, ‘Maybe I can do that.’”
Bower is an Air National Guard veteran and was a trained interior decorator who left a corporate design job to open Refillism. For her, designing the bright, tidy shop “was the easy part.” Behind the cash register, a sign tracks the number of containers saved from landfills-—nearly 2,200 in less than a year.
Looking back on her first year in business, Bower feels a sense of pride, especially for giving local shoppers the refilling option that many have been craving or want to embrace. The mission “makes everything worthwhile,” she says. “I love coming in here. It’s fun, and I love meeting people. Everybody who comes in the store, they’re positive and excited to have an option, to feel like they’re doing something good for their families and for the earth. That makes it so fun and so amazing every day.”
