Verde - Refill Store Shopping Haul
I remember whenever I would go to Wynwood I would pass by a store called Verde, and the sign showed some elements of sustainability so it caught my eye. I looked it up online and it was actually a refillable store, but I didn’t know what to expect as I never been to one before. The closest thing I’ve ever seen is bulk shops from outside or a section in Whole Foods where most people grab plastic bags like they do with fruits.
I finally had some time to check it out, so I brought my reusable totes and walked there. The store was small, something like the mom-and-pop fruit stores in Rome, but with a larger variety of products.
Verde Store
The left side was focused on all the cleaning products, towards the front was personal hygiene products like bamboo stick toothbrushes, shampoos, etc. and further down was kitchen cleaning supplies.
On the right side there were more products that I needed, little grocery staples. Closer to the front there were nuts and dried fruit and in the back there was spices, oils, vinegars.
In the middle there was other miscellaneous sustainable products from reusable bottles to reusable straws.
The first time I went I had no containers because I thought they had to be glass jars (since everyone else seems to use that). But Sabba, the woman there, told me that actually I could bring discarded plastic containers from previous products to fill if I wanted.
What I Bought
On that day I bought a glass jar of coconut oil and a reusable straw, for situations when I would need it. But I still need to find a smaller bag for my plastic straw to carry it around without being gross and taking too much space (dry towel too?).
I did not want to buy anything I didn’t need, so I waited until a week later when I ran out of fruits and nuts to go back and grab some there. Once I finish my shampoo and conditioner (which could actually take awhile) I will go ahead and fill it up at the store. I had a bad habit of buying tons of makeup or cleansing products. But as they say, reduce reuse recycle and respect!
I love the store, and I highly encourage all my environmentally inclined friends to go there. It actually really hit me when I competed at Miss Eco US, my eco-wear was mainly if amazon packages, and boxes from my granola bars and mixed nuts. That doesn’t even include the foil packaging. There’s two reasons why it’s bad: it creates more landfill, and since I collect it my room becomes more of a mess. So I do plan to go there ever 1-3 weeks, just depending on my availability and what I actually need from there.