New store for Sudbury to help reduce waste

The Nickel Refillery will be a place where you can shop for things such as shampoo, hand soap and window cleaner in bulk, but you will need to either bring, borrow or buy your own reusable container. 

Liz Anawati is one of four women who've come together to start a business that will function with zero waste. It will also be a space where workshops can be held to teach people in the community about how to live light.

"It became a personal mission after doing cleanups around the city and started seeing the collections were sometimes between 2 to 7 to 8 hundred kilograms of garbage just floating around our city from one edge to the other," says Anawati.

That is also when she decided to take a personal audit of her own household garbage.

"I just started to see all these places I could cut it out."

Sharon Roy says she was motivated to do this because she is a grandparent and she wants to leave a better, cleaner world for her grandchildren. She says a lot of what they will sell will be locally produced or from across Canada if possible.

"There's stuff available, it's just not all gathered in one place that's convenient for people to get it from and that's what we are trying to provide."

Anawati says products will range from kitchen to bathroom to personal care products and everything in between.

"Not only are we going to have the liquid and the dry products that you can refill, but you will also be able to find products for every day use, like compostable sponges, things that won't necessarily end up in the waste stream."

She is quick to point out that nobody needs to be perfect, just do your best. She says they wanted to create a space where they could support people who want to make a difference in their lives.

The group hopes to open the door to the Refillery at 227 Regent Street by the end of this summer. They are currently holding a crowd funding campaign through Indiegogo to help with some of the startup costs.