Neither Anita Fontaine nor owner, Jill Fees, had any experience in the sustainability field but knew that their town needed this store. Anita has wanted to have a store for as long as she can remember, and really wanted access to the plastic-free products she was seeing online.  She was thinking about starting a refillery-style pop up to see how the community would respond before diving into it. Jill approached Anita to ask if she would help her open Rivermont Refillery. They had both been doing refills in Charlottesville whenever they were visiting there for different reasons, so they thought it was time that Lynchburg had their own. 

Rivermont Refillery carries some really great brands including Rustic Strength, Fillaree, Plaine Products, and Dip- they did a lot of website digging, asking questions, and checking in with other refilleries to see if the brands worked well for them. They got samples, tried the products, and anything they felt unsure about, they would look up on EWG.org. 

They have some products that are specifically geared towards moms, babies, and kids but also think that non-toxic cleaning and body products is something people are looking to provide for their families too. The specific products they have include a line by Carina organics-baby shampoo/body wash, lotion, and bubble bath, klean kanteen-bottles, stainless steel water bottles and sippy cups, talc-free powder, booty creams, reusable wipes, wipe solution, recycled crayons, plastic free craft kits, etc. 

HOW TO LIVE SUSTAINABLY WITH NO EXPERIENCE?

One easy place to start is laundry-use dryer balls to cut down on dry time (ditch the dryer sheets), find a local place to refill on laundry detergent with non-toxic ingredients, and if you are able to just wear your clothes more between washes, that all adds up to a lot of good. If you can remember to carry a reusable bag or just ask for no bag when you can carry an item easily. Bar soaps, shampoos, and conditioners are another great/easy swap! Stasher bags or cloth snack/sandwich bags in place of ziplock baggies. It’s all about changing small habits that you can sustain then continuing to add in more when you can. If you try to change everything at once it is too much and it’s honestly a little wasteful to just get all new stuff. Anita always says: “the most sustainable thing you can do is use what you have until you actually need to replace it.”

Again, changing things slowly was helpful for me to balance. It is helpful to put the things you need to refill in your bag or car as soon as it is empty because then you know you can squeeze in the trip to refill it whenever it’s convenient. Obviously the more things you are able to purchase from a local refillery, the more sense it makes for you to make it a stop in your regular routine. If it’s not convenient for you to go often, buy in bulk then refill your smaller containers from the bulk jug/jar. “I think its important to remember that this isn’t an all or nothing situation-if you refill your dish soap 2-3 times a week then have to buy some from the grocery because you can’t get to the refill shop, that doesn’t mean you can’t jump back on the wagon for another 2-3 refills,” Anita notes. Each time you choose to refill and reuse is helpful even if you can’t do it EVERY SINGLE TIME you need something. “I can’t wait till there’s a food refillery locally for pantry staples and coffee!”