This July 5- 12: Skip the landfill and reach for the refill.
What if I told you that the average American produces about five pounds of trash per day?
That may not sound like much, until you add it up.
Five pounds a day comes out to roughly 1,800 pounds a year, about the weight of a small car. So every year, the average American throws away a Honda Civic worth of waste. Now that daily five pounds doesn’t seem as small.
Unfortunately, our society has become reliant on single-use plastics in the past few decades. Think shampoo bottles, soap dispensers, food packaging, plastic bags, coffee cups. Single-use plastic is everywhere around us.
These products are convenient for producers and consumers alike, but plastics don’t just disappear once they hit the trash can or recycling bin. Plastic can take up to a thousand years to decompose, and as it breaks down, it sheds microplastics that have now been found everywhere, in our oceans, on mountaintops, and inside our own bodies. To make the issue more complicated, our waste management systems aren’t prepared to handle the sheer volume of plastic waste that is produced and tossed away every day.
Refill Not Landfill Week, happening July 5 -12, is a reminder that we don’t need to keep buying items packaged in plastic over and over again; we just have to refill the containers we already have. Refill Not Landfill Week is a community awareness campaign that encourages residents in the Greater Boston area to reduce waste by supporting refill stores, reuse programs, and sustainable alternatives. Through educational outreach, and local business partnerships, the goal is to make sustainable choices more accessible while highlighting the many businesses in the Greater Boston area that make it possible.
Why It Matters
If a household refills just five products a month instead of buying new, that’s over 60 fewer containers a year. These actions, multiplied across thousands of households, can quickly add up to a make a big impact. Refilling tends to be cheaper, too: products bought package-free often last far longer than their single-use counterparts. I switched to bar shampoo and conditioner for $36 total. wo products last me well over a year, and I don’t have to restock every few months.
How to Participate?
You don’t need to overhaul your entire pantry or bathroom overnight. You just need to start small.
Bring your own refillable containers (or grab a donated one) to one of these participating local businesses: BU Cycle Kitchen, Cambridge Naturals, Credo Beauty, Fulfilled Goods, Green Tiger & Co, Uvida, and Yes! Your Eco Sources. Collect a stamp at each location you visit for a chance to win one of the great raffle prizes: a zero waste starter kit from Uvida and Green Tiger & Co, a gift basket from Fulfilled Goods, a gift basket from Credo Beauty, a 10% discount code from Cambridge Naturals, and a donated bike from the BU Cycle Kitchen.
Dining out? Recirclable restaurants are also taking part! “Recirclable is an organization helping restaurants offer reusable take-out containers as an easy, affordable alternative to single-use packaging,” says founder Margie Bell. “For customers, it works just like borrowing a library book: you check out a container using the Recirclable app, then return it to any of the participating locations so it can be cleaned and reused. It’s free as long as you return it.”
Show proof of takeout or dine-in at a participating spot for two raffle entries. Attending a community workshop doubles your entries. The confirmed workshops are:
- How to Buy a Used Bike hosted at the BU Cycle Kitchen on July 8 from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
- Rethink Your Cart: The Case for Refill Shopping Workshop hosted at Uvida on July 8 from 6-7 p.m.
- Rethink Your Cart: The Case for Refill Shopping Workshop hosted at Yes! Your Eco Source for Refill Happy Hour on July 9 from 5-6 p.m.
You can obtain a stamp card at one of the seven participating locations. Once it’s completed, scan the QR Code on the back to submit it and be entered into the raffle. Winners will be announced on July 17.
A Week to Build a Habit
The point of this dedicated week isn’t just awareness—it’s momentum. Habits are easier to start when a clear kickoff and a community are doing it alongside you. Use this week to learn more about plastic pollution, refill stores, and sustainable solutions. Once it’s part of your routine, it tends to stick.
Spread the Word
Follow refill_not_landfill02215 on Instagram for workshop locations, prize updates, and more. Share it with a friend. Small actions, multiplied, are how lasting change happens!
