Package-free shoppers have lots of options for food staples like produce, grains, beans, and nuts. But try to stock the bathroom, laundry area, or the cupboard under the kitchen sink, and you will likely run into a sea of plastic.

Enter the Fullfillery—the pint-sized shop with a big vision. Tucked away in Takoma Park, MD close to the DC line, it first popped up in December and has been slowly expanding its carefully curated selection of household and personal care products that you can either buy in bulk (with your own reusable container) or with minimal (and plastic-free) packaging. The Fullfillery aims to sell synthetic-free items sourced as locally as possible and considers the entire lifecycle of the product in its purchasing.

Rini Saha, who runs GreenThinker DC, and the other seven like-minded co-founders behind the not-for-profit Fulfillery saw a need for it based on their own shopping frustrations. “It was really serendipity that brought the group of us together. We had all been thinking along the same lines and somehow managed to find each other,” says Rini. “And often when customers come in they tell me they’ve been looking for something like this.”

 

In the Fullfillery, you can buy a small range of hard-to-find but necessary items. As unglamorous as it may sound, hard-core zero wasters may be most excited about the large tub of plain white vinegar that you can dispense into your own jar. Vinegar is a key ingredient in loads of recipes for make-your-own cleaning products and a miracle worker when it comes to minor housekeeping challenges. As far as we know it’s not available package free anywhere else in the area.

Another popular product is the all-purpose household cleaner. You can buy it in powder form inside a glass spray bottle; take it home
and add water to make the cleaning solution. Keep the spray bottle and buy powder refills the next time. Also on tap: dish soap, liquid (and powdered) laundry detergent, and other cleaning products.

For the bathroom, you can get liquid hand soap, shampoo and conditioner bars, silk and vegan floss, deodorant, and more (see current inventory). They hope to offer toothpaste tablets soon.

One challenge the store faces is trying to find vendors that will refill the large containers they supply. This is a work in progress,
but presumably, as demand for zero waste products grows, this will become increasingly possible. It underscores the need for social entrepreneurs to address each link in the supply chain for daily essentials.

The creators of the Fullfillery feel a calling to help normalize low-waste consumption in the DC area. “We want to create some of the
infrastructure that allows people to live plastic free,” says Rini. “We want to push the cultural needle.”

Thus far, the Fullfillery is open on a limited schedule, so check the website for current hours before you go. Despite this and its off-the-beaten-path location (you wouldn’t stumble across it by chance), it has tapped into local demand via word of mouth and customers have sought it out, coming either as curious browsers or as focused shoppers.

You don’t have to arrive with your own jars in hand. They are offered for sale if you want to try any of the liquid “fill-your-own”
items and staff are happy to walk you through the process and chat about the offerings.

As the website says, the Fullfillery is working to make bulk “beautiful, easy, and quick.” “We are trying to be very accessible,” Rini emphasizes. “There are lots of products here for people just starting their zero waste journey.”