Refill Madness Sacramento

(Last UPDATED 9/24/2020) Description and review of Refill Madness – a shop located on 29^th Street in Midtown Sacramento that helps customers reduce their waste footprint.

I had been meaning to stop by Refill Madness since it opened to check it out, so I recently made a point of dropping in 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 exactly is Refill Madness?  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

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

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I was greeted upon entering, and a young woman explained how things worked and invited me 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 with me 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, and I was very interested to learn that it is also a drop off center for: worn, unusable athletic shoes; wine corks; eye glasses; sunglasses; and, mascara wands.  I am going to start saving my wine corks!

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

I plan to return to Refill Madness to try a few of the products offered.  Additionally, I plan to take in some clean containers to add to their container bin – instead of tossing them into the recycling bin.

Upsdates

(UPDATED 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!

(UPDATED 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.)

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