'Every little step makes an impact': Old Colorado City bulk refill shop works to reduce plastic waste

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Nearly every piece of plastic ever made still exists in some form.

Single-use packaging accounts for the highest-demand use of plastic, with 139 million metric tons of single-use plastic waste produced in 2021 alone, according to the Plastic Waste Makers Index.

But a store tucked away in Old Colorado City is trying to combat plastic waste and is providing a way for Springs residents to reduce their carbon footprint

Lilla McPhearson opened Conscious Living Shop in 2019, creating Colorado Springs’ first bulk refill store.

“We call this a bulk refill shop. A lot of places you will find call them ‘zero waste shops,’ but I don’t like to use that term because I think that’s a little overwhelming and misleading because it’s really hard to be totally zero waste,” she said. “We can be low waste, but I think it’s really hard to be zero waste and I think it’s also very overwhelming.”

McPhearson has always had an interested in sustainability.

“I’ve always lived rather sustainable and tried to be a good steward to the land,” McPhearson said. “It just was right up my alley, trying to reduce waste and walk lightly on the planet.”

Before opening the storefront, McPhearson operated an online business, selling ecofriendly products and reusable items back in 2018.

“Very soon after that, I somehow discovered online about bulk refill shops that were popping up, and I thought that was an interesting concept,” she said. “I just went down the rabbit hole of researching and saw that there were other places doing bulk refill back then. There weren’t that many in the United States.”

After learning about bulk refill shops, she experimented with the concept with a small booth at the downtown Pikes Peak Market.

“That kind of is how I got my feet wet to see if it would be something that would work here because no one else is doing it,” she said. “It was very successful.”

A year later, she opened up a storefront in Old Colorado City.

“When this space became available, one of my friends told me about it, and I took the plunge,” she said.

So, how does refilling work? First, you’ll need a dry container — you can bring your own, or use a container at the store, which offers a handful of free donated containers as well as purchasable new glass containers.

“The goal is to not go back and buy another plastic shampoo bottle — reuse what you have,” she said. “The mission is to reduce the single-use plastic waste.”

The shop then will weigh the empty container. After you fill up, the shop will charge the difference.

“You refill whatever product as little or as much as you want, and you pay by the ounces,” she said.

The store offers refills on everything from cleaning products to body care, including hand soap, lotion, shampoo and conditioner, dish washing liquid and laundry detergent, among other supplies.

The store doesn’t stop at bulk refills, though. McPhearson also sells a slew of sustainable items to reduce waste, like compostable food wrap as an alternative to plastic wrap, metal straws to replace single use straws, reusable paper towels and other products.

While there are a wide variety of items that help, McPhearson advises individuals to incorporate sustainable practices gradually.

“I just tell people to start small,” she said. “Start with one room, start with just the laundry or just the bathroom or just your kitchen. Don’t feel like you have to go through your whole house and throw everything away and start over, because that’s missing the point.”

Customers at the shop can also recycle a variety of items at the location for free, including difficult to recycle objects like air freshener cartridges and plug-ins, beauty supplies and packaging, bottle caps, crayons, razor blades, plastic cards and silicone bags.

“I tell people, it’s progress over perfection. Do not get overwhelmed and think you have to do it all at one time,” she said. “Just bring in a couple of containers, when you run out of something that you use on a regular basis and start there. Every little step, I believe it makes an impact.”

McPhearson pays for the recycling service from Terra Cycle, a company out of New Jersey that takes noncurbside recyclable materials.

“They melt them down into new raw materials that they can make other products out of,” she said. “A lot of these boxes cost me money, so it’s a service that I provide to my customers.”

McPhearson’s goal is to help others reduce their waste, adding she wouldn’t mind seeing more bulk refill shops pop up around Colorado Springs.

“I think every town needs more than one,” she said. “I really am proud at the end of the day that I’ve created something that I feel is an asset to Colorado Springs, and our community.”

Conscious Living Shop, 2616 W Colorado Ave. #9, is open 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, and 12-5 p.m. Sunday.

Visit consciouslivingshop.com or call 719-646-7734.

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