Refill Madness Sacramento

(Last UPDATED 7/21/2023) Description and review of Refill Madness, a local business that helps Sacramentan’s reduce their waste footprint.

I had been meaning to stop by Refill Madness since it opened, so I recently did so prior to picking up a few items at the Sacramento Foods Co-Op. Refill Madness is located  around the corner from Revolution Wines and nearby the Sacramento Foods Co-Op.

What Does Refill Madness Do?

In a nutshell, the business caters to individuals who want to live a zero or low waste lifestyle.  You enter the store with your clean container, and have it refilled with eco-friendly options of things you use every day.  I can’t say I aspire to a zero waste lifestyle – but I would certainly like to work on lessening my waste footprint.

Some statistics from the Refill Madness website relating to plastic:

• It takes 500-1,000 years for plastic to degrade
• The average American throws away about 185 pounds of plastic a year

Refill Madness – First Visit

The first thing I noticed upon entering was how good the front room smelled.  The room is filled with a variety of personal care items such as soaps, lotions, shampoo and conditioners.

SacramentoRevealed.com – All Things Sacramento (from a personal perspective)

I was greeted upon entering, and a young woman explained how things at Refill Madness worked.  I was also invited to look around and ask any questions I might have.  It was very interesting to browse around the two rooms that make up the shop.

I did not have any containers to (re)fill, but she mentioned that there was a bin of empty containers donated by others for my use if there was something I wanted to purchase then and there.  Items available for purchase are sold by the ounce.

In addition to personal care items, Refill Madness has a wide variety of household products – everything from automatic dishwasher and laundry detergents, all purpose and window cleaners, furniture polish, etc.

After my visit I checked out the Refill Madness website. I was very interested to learn that Refill Madness is also a drop off center for:

• worn, unusable athletic shoes
• wine corks
• eye glasses and sunglasses
• mascara wands

I am going to start saving my wine corks!

Update:  Wine corks (made of cork. not plastic) can now be added to the City green waste bin for composting.

The Refill Madness website also notes other businesses that sell products by the ounce i.e. The Allspicery, Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op, and the bulk bin section of your local grocery store.

See related blog posts:  The Allspicery – Spice Up Your Life and Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op

To Sum Up

Returning to Refill Madness to try a few of the products offered is now on my list of things to do.  Additionally, I plan to take in some clean containers to add to their container bin – instead of tossing them into the recycling bin.

Updates

(9/24/2020)  The owner of Refill Madness, Sloane Reed, recently received the California Product Stewardship Council Infinity Arrow Award for Service and Take-Back.

According to the CPSC website the Infinity Arrow Award for Service and Take-Back recognizes “a retail business, group of businesses, or chain that has initiated an outstanding Take Back program for one or more product as an additional convenience and service to their customers, and works with the producers of those products in developing safe storage and recovery of EOL products and packages.”

Congrats to Sloane Reed and Refill Madness!

(1/20/2020)  Broken link repaired.

Comments on Refill Madness?

Have you shopped at Refill Madness?  Do you have a particular product or products you really like and would recommend?

Refill Madness Snapshot:

• 1828 29^th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816
• (916) 382-4823
• Hours: Closed Monday and all Major Holidays; Tuesday-Saturday (10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.); Sunday (10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.)
• Street Parking

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