CHOOSE TO REFUSE
Looking to cut your consumption of single-use plastic? These startups are here to make it easier and more affordable.
Husband-and-wife team Dom and Sam of plastic-free grocery store The Refillery first met in France when they were working on yachts. ‘We travelled a lot and were able to go to places that people save up for their entire lives to go on holiday to,’ says Dom. ‘But when you get to all these amazing destinations, you also see all the rubbish washing up on the beaches.’
Sam is originally from Johannesburg, while Dom hails from New Zealand, and the family had been living there for two years before relocating to South Africa last year.
‘We’re not your typical eco-warriors,’ Sam admits. ‘We are your stock-standard family that also likes convenience.’ But eventually, they came to a lifechanging realisation. ‘We kept saying, “Someone will do something about it!” – but we were just as bad by not doing anything about it. We were coming to the party late, so we felt we had to make a big impact.’
They started off small. In 2018 the couple gave Plastic Free July a shot. This global movement challenges people to go without using plastic for a month. Unsurprisingly, the Moletas struggled – but that struggle gave them the idea for their business. ‘We have two small kids, so life is busy,’ says Sam.
‘If there was a way to make this easy, convenient and accessible to everyone, we reckoned this was how we could make a dent in the plastic problem.’
In March this year they opened Joburg’s first plastic-free grocery store in Cedar Square, Fourways. The Refillery stocks just about everything you’d find in a regular grocery chain store. It also offers a large range of organic and vegan products but, as Dom explains, this isn’t what makes the business unique. ‘Our focus is on reducing plastic waste, and the best way for us to do that is by making it easy for everyone. We want everybody to be able to shop like this.’
The Refillery stocks everything from olive oil, vinegar and honey to coffee, grains and beans, plus it has you covered for natural-based cleaning products and several zero-waste lifestyle products such as reusable coffee cups, beeswax wraps and reusable straws. All the products come in glass jars and the business operates on a weigh-and-pay system.
A bonus for the couple is that they can spend more time together. ‘Dom was working as a project manager in construction a few years ago,’ says Sam, ‘so he never got to see the kids – he was gone before they woke up and home after dinner.’
Working with your spouse might not be everyone’s idea of fun, but Dom and Sam make a great team. ‘We have the odd disagreement but we know each other’s strengths and where we need to help each other out,’ says Dom. ‘We have a similar work ethic and the same kind of attitude – especially with something like this that we’re both passionate about.’
Finding the balance between being partners in business and partners in marriage may get a bit tricky, but they have the perfect thing to keep them anchored: their children.
‘As soon as we walk through the door our kids run up to us and give us a kiss and cuddle, and it immediately takes the business side away,’ says Dom.
Jackson and Stevie, their little boy and girl, are also their biggest motivators. ‘We wanted to do something our children can be proud of,’ says Sam.
Plastic-free grocery stores have become popular in South Africa because the trend tries to tackle an international problem. ‘We would rather have a million people removing plastic through their shopping experience than have three remove plastic entirely from their lives,’ explains Dom. ‘The solution isn’t necessarily recycling,’ adds Sam. ‘It’s consuming less, and consuming in a more sustainable manner.’