Recycle by refilling: Meet the women bringing ‘refilleries’ to the area
Larissa Russo, despite her master’s degree in engineering and well-paying job, joined 2021’s “Great Resignation” in April.
Like many of the about 38 million Americans who quit their jobs last year, she made the move after spending months at home, when she suddenly had time to think about her habits and priorities. And the extra time to watch videos on TikTok.
One video about zerowaste stores led to a For You page full of them.
As she learned, these stores began in Europe in the late 2000s as a way to fight back against packaging waste. Slowly, the stores crept into major North American cities. While there are plenty of bulk bin sections of larger stores in the area — some of which allow refillable containers — she found no true “refilleries” in Pittsburgh.
“I think I’ve always been outspoken about things like shopping local and things like that, but it was time to walk the walk for me,” she said. “It came to the point where I couldn’t answer the question anymore, ‘Why not me?’”
After six years as an engineer, most recently for FedEx, Ms. Russo, 31, of the Strip District, quit her job and started a zero-waste kiosk at pop-ups in mid-June. She brought eight home and personal care essentials refills, such as detergent, dish soap and lotion, housed in large containers with pumps or scoops. Shoppers could bring the products home in their own reusable containers or purchase new ones from her, with the idea that they’d be refilled in the future.
By Oct. 22, she opened a storefront on Murray
Avenue in Squirrel Hill, becoming Allegheny County’s first refillery, just like the ones she’d seen on social media.
Her one employee, Jordan Barone, 28, was a pop-up customer first and jumped at the chance to work for a business she’s “passionate” about.
“A lot of the street traffic, people don’t know what it is, and they just flat-out ask, ‘What is this?’” she said. Others already know about zero-waste stores — or are repeat customers — and have reusable containers in
hand. Or they use the store’s “community shelf,” where customers are encouraged to take or leave secondhand containers.
Ms. Russo now sells far more than eight refillable home and personal care products, including aerosolfree dry shampoo with plastic-free brushes for application, dish soap, aftershave and plenty more. And all of it is sourced as locally as possible, which imparts a bonus.
“Local makers aren’t going to be using many chemicals or preservatives,” she said. “They’re making it in
small batches. It’s a great byproduct of sourcing locally.”
“Clean” products are a happy accident for Ms. Russo, but that was the entry point to the no-waste business for Jamie Marshall, owner of Peach + Park in Bridgewater,Beaver County.
Much like Ms. Russo, Ms. Marshall, 33, of Beaver, spent her extra time at home through the pandemic thinking about what’s important. She remembered being pregnant with her son in 2018 and all of the ingredients she suddenly avoided, which made her ask, “Why
are we using it anyway, if I can’t use it for safety when I’m pregnant?”
Researching ingredients led her to realize how relatively inaccessible clean products are without the waste created by shipping and packaging, the largest category of plastic waste accounting for 14.5 million tons in 2018. That’s when she discovered refilleries.
While maintaining her remote-work job as a brand manager for a performing arts nonprofit in Youngstown, Ohio, she opened Peach + Park in May.
With their parallel stories, businesses and timelines, the two women know and support each other, and they’re proud torchbearers of the zero-waste store movement in the Pittsburgh area.
“Even if I make someone more aware throughout their day of one water bottle, that’s worth it,” Ms. Russo said. “All the actions we can take individually will add up to bigger change.”