Fairfax store aims to reduce plastic use
Janabai Owens, a self-professed “serial entrepreneur” with stints as a restaurateur and boutique and apothecary owner, has launched her latest venture, Solstice Mercantile, on Bolinas Avenue in Fairfax.
“We opened in mid-October but between COVID, the holidays and the atmospheric river, it was kind of a hectic time,” the Woodacre resident says. “Most people are just beginning to find us now, with the warmer weather and longer daylight hours.”
Located in the 600-foot space that once housed Rainbow Fabrics Crafts & Things, Solstice Mercantile is an Old World dry goods-style store with a focus on reducing plastic consumption in every day living, she says.
The concept came to her when she realized that “in order to reduce plastic consumption globally we have to come up with real-world solutions for every household,” she says.
“It starts with simple things like refilling your laundry detergent and shampoo (and skin and body care products) in bottles you bring from home,” she says. “My hope is by setting a tangible example we can make a difference in our community.”
It's easy and affordable to refill bottles. Just bring in an empty container and hey will weigh it before and after.
She also stocks plastic-free laundry detergents; dish soaps and powders; sanitizing sprays, hand soaps and sanitizers; room sprays; lotions; facial clays and scrubs, and bath salts, along with sponges, kitchen brushes and scouring pads, and body care brushes and loofahs.
For those who prefer solid bars, there are solid bars for hair and body along with bars of dish soap and stain remover.
“We encourage the use of solid soaps to cut down on plastic bottles as well as the transport and emissions associated with using liquid soaps,” she says.
Owens estimates that approximately 40% of Solstice Mercantile's inventory is from Marin, Sonoma and San Francisco, with
the majority of it produced in California and Oregon.
“We look for sustainability commitments from the companies, plasticfree goods and shipping, and quality,” she says. “We avoid companies sold on Amazon and give small, local businesses a chance to thrive.”
Owens would like to offer educational events on regenerative living, such as beekeeping and gray water workshops.
“I love curating unique items that make a difference,” she says. “I hope folks come away with the realization that changing the world will happen faster when we all get started making better choices and that those choices don't have to be hard, they can be fun, practical and inspiring.”
• Details: Solstice Mercantile is at 50 Bolinas Road in Fairfax from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. For more information, go to solsticemercantile.com.
Habitat plants
Novato resident Charlotte Torgovitsky has announced the launch of Home Ground Habitats, which will make its public debut when it takes part in the 2022 Eco-Friendly Garden Tour, sponsored by the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
May 14.
The online garden tour is free and registration is available at savingwaterpartnership.org/ecofriendly-garden-tour.
Home Ground Habitats is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organic growing ground and educational center operating on a leased acre in Indian Valley.
With a stated mission of becoming the North
Bay Area's leading habitat-focused landscaping resource, the center features demonstration gardens with California natives and other Mediterranean climate plants, an orchard, and a small pond, vegetable garden and productive nursery.
According to Torgovitsky, “volunteers help us with the plant propagation and we donate many of the plants we grow to school and community garden projects as well as supporting other small nonprofits that use plant sales to raise funds.”
For more information, call 707-787-8821 or go to homegroundhabitats.org.
Show off
If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I'd love to know about it.
Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it, and a photograph or two. I will post the very best ones in upcoming columns. Your name will be published and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.
Don't-miss events
• Shop for your garden from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and help Marin quadriplegics stay in their home at InSpirit's annual plant sale. The sale, which includes flowers and vegetable seedlings, perennials, shrubs, large garden plants, garden tools and ornaments, is at the Lagunitas District Upper Campus at Sir Francis Drake Boulevard at School Road in San Geronimo. Prices range from $4 to $6. Call 415-488-4097 or 415-488-9244 or go to inspiritmarin.org.
• Browse more than
140 booths of vintage and antique objects at the French Market Marin's outdoor market from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Marin Veterans' Memorial Auditorium parking lot at 10 Avenue of the Flags in San Rafael. Admission and parking are free. Go to thefrenchmarketmarin.com.
• Medicinal herbs are the topic at the Novato Garden Club's free monthly program following the club meeting at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Margaret Todd Senior Center at 1560 Hill Road in Novato. Questions? Send an email to gardenclubnovato@ gmail.com.