NORFOLK — We’ve talked about recycling before, but what else can we do to cut down on our waste and what ends up in the landfill?
One shop in Norfolk could help you out with some sustainable alternatives.
“I rave about this place. I've sent people here like, I truly love it,” said Anayah Gilliam.
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Gilliam is one of the customers we met at Less Than a Zero waste and refill shop in Norfolk.
“My favorite product in the store, I will say, is these soaps over here.”
Anayah has been coming here for about a year and a half and says less than planted the seed of awareness in her and inspired her to make some changes.
“You don't have to throw everything away in your house and go all natural, no, but just start small,” said Gilliam. “It just, you know, baby steps.”
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Chris Simmonds is the proprietor of Less Than.
He tells me those small changes people make can have a big impact.
“Zero Waste means we help people produce the least amount of waste as possible,” said Simmonds. “Putting something in the trash bin or putting something in the recycling bin gives us the impression that something's going to happen afterwards, and that thing is going to go away. But it doesn't really go away.
At Less Than they curate items that aren’t packaged in plastic, have plant-based formulations, and are reusable or biodegradable.
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They carry items for skin care, laundry, even pet and baby products that all come from nature and return there at the end of their use without doing any damage.
“Our ingredients would naturally degrade over a period of time to nothing, whereas things that have a synthetic component to it are artificial, especially dyes and fragrance and stuff like that, would kind of poison the environment around it, and so it's just cleaner for the environment,” said Simmonds. “It's cleaner for us.”
If you’re thinking about coming down to the store and don’t know where to start- it’s very easy, and they can help you out. You just have to bring your own jar or pick up one of the ones they have already cleaned and sterilized, ready for you to use. Take it on over to the product that you want to fill, bring it on up to the nozzle, pump the amount you want in there, and then you just close it up, weigh and pay.
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Simmonds tells me all of their products are responsibly sourced, made in house, or from a special maker in Montana, but all of it is done in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner.
And even though some of the items might seem a little more expensive, they’re not diluted or made with synthetic ingredients like at big box stores.
“We just see more and more on the news about what's happening with recalls and products that are making people sick, and so that's one of the things that we factor in when we're thinking about cost, is the cost of your health,” said Simmonds.
They’ve been here for 5 years, and he tells me they get more and more customers asking for cleaner and environmentally friendly products because they want to make healthier and more conscious choices.
“What type of impact do they want to have on the world for their children to come and when you think about that more broadly, I think it makes more sense to kind of shop small, shop sensible, shop clean and shop eco-friendly.”
