Clean Refillery provides simple tips for starting a lifestyle with little waste

LANSING, Michigan (WILX) - Meet Alexa Hacksel.

Live what she calls a "no waste" lifestyle.

"I prefer to call it a low-waste lifestyle than a waste-free lifestyle," said Alexa. "Zero waste is kind of a common term and I adjusted it because I had to adjust it and I think every person has to adjust it to make it work for them. It is impossible not to be garbage. ""

Alexa makes simple adjustments to the products she uses in her daily life to reduce overall waste.

"It's really about finding places in your life where you can reduce everything to one use. It represents single-use plastic, single-use paper and your lifestyle so you don't leave a pile of trash behind while you are away. What I like to do is shampoo. I switched from a traditional shampoo to a shampoo bar probably four years ago. It's a bar of soap for your hair and I haven't had a plastic shampoo bottle in my shower since then.

Over the years of this new lifestyle, Alexa has created a list of items that are not only low in waste but also functional. After a lot of work, this list became his own business.

"When I made this list, I decided that starting a business was an option for me and it was something I was excited about," said Alexa. "My mom really encouraged me at the start of the pandemic, telling me to think about sitting down and starting out like getting an LLC, building a website, and getting a logo."

Flash beforehand.

Clean Refillery in Reo Town is now Lansing's first low-waste store.

"We have many products for body and household care, such as cleaning concentrates, glass cleaners, detergents, shampoos and conditioners.

The refill part of the name comes from the fact that you can bring your own container to fill it with liquid products.

"It doesn't have to be glass, it's the most common question. Can be anything. We want to cherish plastic and use it to death. So that you can bring your own container with you, we have a community table which is a penny-for-penny system and you can borrow anything you need. Then we also have other more pleasant ones with a similar, more solid sales purpose. We're taking the weight of these containers on the scales here and then we're going to split it up, which means we'll end up subtracting the weight of the container so people only pay for the product. ""

Alexa takes pride in her business being the first of its kind in Lansing and believes every region needs something like this.

"We need to stop thinking about the convenience factor associated with one-way purchases and think more about the long-term effects."

All of the products in your store have already been tested and used by Alexa. Local green companies are among her favorites.

"We have some of our Fresh Coast Clean products here. These are made by a family here in Lansing. What's really cool is that since we're around I can grab this container when it's empty and bring the container back to them. So this container has probably seen 50 gallons of laundry detergent in its lifetime, and you will see a lot more.

Some of these products allow you to reduce waste by bringing your own container, others can be purchased and will even last for decades.

"The drying balls are placed for the drying sheets. It's really cool because they last 20 years and a third get processed right. So you only need one hot water bath a year and they will last that long. They're also made from sheep's wool and harvested here in Michigan . It helps, for example, to remove pet hair from clothing, it dries faster because it moves everything more and you never have to buy a dryer sheet again. It pays for itself pretty quickly when you stop using it. Explained Alexa.

Alexa says the transition to these products can begin in one trip with little waste.

"We can treat Earth Day as a New Year's resolution and change one thing: 'Either don't order straws or blankets, or replace your deodorant with a natural one. If there is anything to choose from, make it your Earth Day New Year resolution. ""

The Clean Refillery is located on Washington Ave. 1136 1/2 S. It is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Purchases can also be made at https://www.cleanrefillery.com/ .

Copyright 2021 WILX. All rights reserved.

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