3 minute read
Plentifill
DOWNTOWN DUNCAN’S NEWEST ZERO WASTE REFILLERY
Krystal Aikman and Stephanie MacRae Farrow are family, friends and business partners who have shared a hobby farm for the last 8 years. “We raise, grow and process a good portion of our own food and have been living a sustainable lifestyle for quite some time.” smiles Stephanie co owner of Plentifill, the first zero waste boutique that recently opened in Downtown Duncan. “From cloth diapering, resource sharing, minimizing our agricultural impact and driving an EV... Our consciousness has been increasing for a decade plus.” Inspired by a refillery that Krystal visited up Island, she shared her enthusiasm for opening one with Steph and was met with a solid “No!”. “We were both working full time and helping around the farm, the concept of opening a store seemed entirely ridiculous.” However, over the next few weeks the idea really began to make sense and from there these two entrepreneurs ran with the concept. Now open, Plentifill specializes in refillable bath and body products, house and home supplies, and simple replacements for everyday waste producers. Any favourites we ask? “Mint! All things Mint! They are a female owned company based in Ucluelet, that produce beautiful cleaning products that smell amazing and make cleaning a lot more enjoyable. Shower Steamers, the same idea as a bath bomb, but for shower people. Place it on the floor and it fills the space with wonderful, invigorating essential oils.” shares Steph.
“Customers are thrilled to not have to buy plastic bottles anymore ,instead they can bring their own to refill with Canadian made shampoo and conditioner in several fragrances. Have you heard of Solid Dish Soaps? One of these little blocks can replace up to three bottles of dish soap! Other refillable surprises? Nellie’s dishwashing, laundry and oxygen brightener. Local marine collagen. Tooth paste and tooth tabs. They’re also proud to carry the Om Naturale line. “These beautiful quality products are being made by our friends in Armstrong BC, but the founder actually grew up here in the valley... we’ve know him since we were in school, so it’s pretty awesome to be able to work together all these years later with the same vision of a cleaner world!” Plans are in the works to expand the food section within the next 6 or so months. “We’re envisioning high quality ingredients available in the same bulk, low waste format. Sourcing local whenever possible and focussing on unique foodie inspired flavours. We’re open to suggestions and requests!” New to downtown, Plentifill has Saltspring Island Kombucha on tap, but keep checking in as the kombucha taps will rotate with different makers and flavours. Customers can bring their own growlers, mason jars or cups, but to-go jars are also available to fill with a deposit. How it works People are encouraged to bring in their own clean and dry containers. The empty container is first (tare) weighed so that they can deduct the container off the final weight. Customers can fill with as much or as little of the products they’d like to try. Finally, the final weighing and calculations determine the cost.
If you happen to forget your jar, or would like to try something new and unexpected, they always have a collection of sanitized donated containers. “In order to keep this system going we gratefully accept glass sauce jars, jam jars, bottles, anything glass with a lid. We also offers an extensive line of plentiFILL glass containers for sale, too many sizes to list, but we’ve got you covered. We have been absolutely amazed with the response to this format in our first few weeks. Our hearts are so full!” Plentifill, 163 Kenneth St, downtown Duncan.