We often get asked why we don’t sell new, empty containers in our stores. We’ve given this a lot of thought, and would like to share our reasons with you.

There are so many perfectly good containers out there already...

Just waiting to be refilled. By encouraging the reuse of those we are helping keep them out of the waste/recycling stream, and we avoid introducing new containers into it! So bring in your (empty and clean) spice bottles or your laundry detergent bottle and refill them in the store! 

We do accept donations of suitable containers...

From the community that might otherwise go into recycling or the waste stream – wide mouth containers such a such as pasta sauce bottles or salsa jars. We wash and sanitize them, and sell them for $0.50 each. This small price helps cover our costs of sorting, cleaning and sanitizing and helps keep shopping in our stores affordable and accessible by all. It serves the same function as selling new containers, without creating an additional load on recycling.

We have offered repurposed containers since opening in 2018, but only started tracking the number in August. Since then, we have sold over 575 repurposed containers – that's over 575 containers, that aren't in the waste stream, and being reused ♻️

Do you have containers to donate? Here are our new rules:

Due to COVID-19 we are only allowing folks to donate a maximum of 5 containers at a time. They must be cleaned, have lids, have all labels removed, and we aren't accepting any bottles or soft plastics. We are sanitizing all the donated containers and anyone can use them for $0.50 (this fee covers the sanitizing and cleaning of the container donations).