Janet BoullemetUkangsin is the creator and founder of Alabama’s first refillery. Southern Replenish Refillery opened in September 2021 and, so far, has saved over 1,500 plastic bottles from the local landfill.

A refillery is a place where people can refill used and clean containers they already have with bath, body and kitchen cleaning products to reduce waste.

It all started after her mom was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. BoullemetUkangsin started looking into the problems with plastics and leaching and “it was the beginning of going down the rabbit hole to discover the horrors of plastic pollution.”

She came across a documentary on PBS, “The Plastic Problem,” and found refill stores as a solution to plastic pollution. After looking into the concept, she found there were not many refill stores in the U.S., and none in Alabama. She became determined to bring the concept to the Gulf Coast.

“When I opened my store, it occupied a 200-square-foot space and started with as many refill options as possible. By the following July, my landlord was taking a wall down and I grew to almost 500 square feet,” says BoullemetUkangsin. “The growth in such a brief period proves that people care about recycling.”

Southern Replenish Refillery offers ‘Recycle by Refill’ options. The customer brings empty plastic bottles (typically bath, laundry or cleaning products), the store provides the tare weight of each bottle and labels them. Customers shop from bulk containers, pump the products they want, write the product number on the labels and bring it to the counter to determine how many ounces to pay for.

Recycle by Refill allows the consumer to repeatedly refill existing plastic containers. “Plastics were made to last and recycling is not always the most trusted solution to solving the plastic pollution problem,” says BoullemetUkangsin.

Most of the vendors that sell to Southern Replenish Refillery participate in the “Close the Loop” program, offering repurchases in a bag that can be sent back to the company to clean and reuse.

Southern Replenish Refillery offers plant-based products for bath, laundry and cleaning. Products are purchased from small-batch makers that care about making a better product without toxic ingredients. One example, Oneka products, contain plant extracts from plants grown on their certified organic farm located in Canada. Plants are cultivated there without chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, free of sulfates, parabens and synthetic fragrances.

BoullemetUkangsin observes, “Having a customer come in and use the same dishwashing liquid bottle for over a year is amazing. How many of these bottles would typically be bought in a year? How many plastic bottles do you have around your house and how many times do you throw an empty bottle into the trash or to ‘wishcycling’? Choosing to refill is real recycling, making an enormous impact on plastic pollution one fill at a time. I want my customers to understand and feel the difference they are making. I am keeping count of every bottle refilled at Southern Replenish and as that number increases, my customers see the impact they are making with every visit.”