What Does Refilling Do for Nature?

Take a birds’ eye view of one of our 400ml bottles and you’ll notice a special embossed message: ‘Recycling is good, refilling is better.’ But what exactly does refilling entail? And how does it help Nature?

Refilling used to be the norm in UK households, right up until about 20 years ago. We thought nothing of leaving our empty milk and orange juice bottles on the doorstep, ready to be taken away and brought back full. In some areas, there were even ‘pop lorries’, which delivered refillable glass bottles of fizzy drinks. Then plastic and supermarkets took over and refilling was gradually forgotten.

Fast forward a couple of decades and refilling is back! Thanks to a growing number of refill stores, you can buy everything from dried food to cleaning products, decant it into your own container and save a load of plastic.

But how much plastic does refilling save, exactly? Well, our 2.5 litre bottles hold the equivalent of more than 6 smaller ones, whilst our 5 litre bottles hold same as 12.5. Then there are our huge 20 litre bottles; they hold the equivalent of 50 of our standard 400ml bottles.

Using refills saves a LOT of plastic – and the less plastic we use, the better we’re doing for Nature. Currently, our planet is overflowing with plastic. That huge amounts of it end up in the sea and are often swallowed by wildlife is common knowledge. In the UK alone, an estimated 14 million items of plastic enter our canals and rivers every year.

You might be diligent about your recycling, always putting your plastic bottles into the right bin, for example. Sadly, though, very little of the tonnes of plastic packaging we get through every day (around 16%) is actually recycled. The rest ends up in landfill, or worse still, sent overseas. In fact, almost half of it is shipped off to other countries, where it is often dumped or illegally burnt.

All this is pretty heavy, but by switching to refills, you can make a big difference. And the more people love and rave about refilling, the more others will get the message! Our shampoo, conditioner, hand wash, body wash, hand & body lotion and our laundry liquid and washing up liquid are available in larger refill bottles. Simply pump into a smaller container, or use our nifty aluminium Refill-A-Bottle.

If you’ve got room, you could build your very own home refill station (and find out how here). Our 2.5 litre bottles are just the job for where space is limited. Alternatively, use our store locator to find your nearest refill point and start your refill revolution.

All our refill bottles are made of recyclable plastic, or they can be repurposed. We’ve had customers tell us they make their old bottles into everything from pet food scoops to planters!

Our standard 400ml bottles are made from recycled and recyclable plastic (hence their misty tinge) and have been since 1999. But like that message on those bottles says: “Recycling is good, refilling is better.” It’s simple, really: refill mean less landfill. So, why not start doing your bit for Nature and give refilling a go?