Alameda consumers have become accustomed to bringing reusable tote bags to grocery stores and sipping from paper straws in restaurants. Those efforts are helpful in stemming the tide of plastic entering landfills and waterways, but when the December King Tide storms washed up a confetti of plastic garbage from the Bay onto Alameda’s shores, it was a clear sign that we still need to drastically cut back on single use plastic.
It may feel like an impossible task to avoid plastic containers for items such as shampoo, laundry detergent, hand lotion, and toothpaste, but the recently opened Replenish Marketplace at 1503 Webster Street now makes it possible.
The concept of the store is simple: Bring in a reusable container and fill it up with household cleaning or bath products. Bring the container back when you need more, fill it up, repeat. Keep plastic out of the landfill.
Alameda resident Laria Pippen is the founder and owner of Replenish Marketplace. Pippen grew up in Berkeley in a home that was ecologically conscious. “There’s so many facets to the word sustainability,” she explains. “The economical side, the diversity side, the supply chain side. My passion is about waste. I hate waste.”
She opened the store, along with her husband Stephan, after seeing how much plastic waste was being generated from her job as a pediatric nurse. “Everything is disposable. Blood pressure cuffs, which are basically made of all plastic. Just goes in the trash, even after one use.” Pippen was horrified at all the medical waste and in 2016 started an initiative at her hospital to stop using disposable items. She started with pillows and the hospital went from dumping over 100,000 pillows a year into the landfill to using pillows that are sanitized and reused.
Soon after, a co-worker told Pippen about Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco and Re-up Refills in Oakland, stores that have refill stations. Pippen says she went to Re-Up Refills. “Literally the heavens opened, my jaw dropped. …This is amazing! This is what I want to do.”
Pippen started planning to open her own refill store and reached out to other store owners for advice. She visited Refill Mercantile in Petaluma and the owners let her see how they ran their business. They also introduced her to the Refillery Collective, where refill store owners all over the country meet regularly to learn best practices from each other, discuss new products, and trade ideas.
When it comes to choosing what products to carry, Pippen says she is “intentional” in her decisions. “There’s a vetting process,” she explains, “that includes looking at the ingredients and making sure that everything that we carry is free from microplastics, is nontoxic, does not have forever PFOS chemicals, does not have phthalates, sulfates, allergens, and is gentle.”
That intentionality also extends to making sure that product companies have ethical labor practices and are cruelty-free. Pippen also prioritizes companies that have women and BIPOC owners.
One of Pippen’s favorite products is a stain remover by Root and Splendor. “It is the best stain remover I have ever used and it’s all natural,” she says. Her husband Stephan, who can be found working the cash register at the store most days, likes Humble Suds Scour Cleaning Paste. Pippen says that the Scour Cleaning Paste is the equivalent of Soft Scrub but instead of coming in a plastic bottle and containing bleach, “It’s completely non-toxic and comes in a glass jar which is completely recyclable — or reusable!”
Toothpaste tablets by Huppy are another alternative product. Instead of squeezing toothpaste out of a plastic tube, users chew up and brush their teeth with a small tablet that foams pleasantly in the mouth. The tablets contain natural peppermint oil, but are also fluoride-free, which may be a good or bad thing depending on your preference.
Replenish Marketplace also carries shampoo bars. They are solid soap bars that users lather up in their hands before applying to their hair. Pippen says that while Replenish Marketplace does carry liquid soaps and shampoos, solid products are more environmentally sound because liquid products require more energy and resources in production, transportation, and packaging.
When asked if there is one product that people need to switch away from, Pippen thinks for a second, and then says, “Laundry detergent. The big gallons of Tide… it’s so bad for the environment and our waterways.”
As we continue to tax the Earth with pollution, it can be overwhelming to look at the body care or household cleaning products section of big box stores and know that every single one of those plastic containers will be thrown away within six months to a year.
For those who want to take action, curb their plastic use, and explore a selection of natural products, Replenish Marketplace is a welcome addition to Alameda.
Replenish Marketplace will be hosting their grand opening on Saturday, March 29th at 11am. Celebrate with Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Correction: This article originally included a quote that stated, “Also, the little [Tide] Pods people use with the plastic. It’s got PVC around it and that’s creating microplastic.” Tide Pods are made with PVA (poly vinyl alcohol), not PVC.
Jean Chen is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jean-Chen.
