Students were lined up at 10 a.m. at the Otter Student Union (OSU) on Thursday to participate in a free trial of Refill Renew from company Wonderfil, a business that aims to reduce waste by allowing customers to fill their old, empty plastic bottles with new products.
Their sample machine was set up in the lobby, and in exchange for filling out a survey, which will gauge interest for a possible location at Cal State Monterey Bay (CSUMB), students could fill a bottle with one of the four products on display for free, paid for by the college.
CEO Amelia Eichel was there to greet students and discuss the business, which began as a school project.
“I started this based on research that I was doing during my undergrad at Lewis and Clark College. I was trying to identify really big opportunities to reduce a lot of carbon dioxide and a lot of plastic waste and it was clear that there was not yet a responsible and sustainable way to distribute liquids,” said Eichel.
Wonderfil already have stations at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Berkeley, and Pomona College. They offer common consumer products like Dr. Bronner’s soap and everyone soap at a significant retail discount. The products themselves are stored in reusable plastic bags, which are sent back to a distribution center when empty to be refilled, completing the cycle.
“So it’s a completely circular zero waste system. And it’s actually cheaper to ship product around in our pouches than it is to ship product[s in their original containers],” said Eichel.
Wonderfil aligns more generally with CSUMB’s focus on sustainability, providing yet another opportunity for students to reduce waste and increase reusability.
Whether Wonderfil will be bringing one of their stations to CSUMB depends on the feedback they receive. If there is enough interest, they could have a station somewhere at CSUMB as soon as next fall.