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Friday, April 6, 2012

a refill please

Back home if I ran out of dish soap, shampoo, or the like, I would just buy another bottle.  In Japan I can do the same but more often than not I do this:

I save my dispenser and buy a refill.  Refills are shelved next to their bottled counterparts and priced typically a ¥100 or so cheaper.  It just makes sense - I have both the satisfaction of using less plastic AND I saving money.  It also seems like a win-win situation for the manufacturer which makes me wonder why this idea hasn't taken off in the States?  Do product refills appear in other parts of the world?  Do tell.
Here are a couple of store shots that shows other examples of refills, toilet bowl cleaner, fabric softner,  and shampoos.


29 comments:

  1. I'm from Malaysia and YES in Malaysia almost all our Shower Gell (I use Shokubutsu and Dettol), Hand Wash , detergents, Febreze (a fabric freshner) are available in refills. It's a common thing here in Malaysia but I'm not sure about shampoos. :D

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  2. That makes so much sense. I have no idea why they don't do it here (U.S.) unless there's a serious financial upside to making us buy the dispensers over and over.

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  3. im in new zealand and they are big here especially for detergents, cleansers etc. you can get replacement cakes for makeup containers too...

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  4. In Mexico we do have refills but mostly for hand/cloth/dish soap and cloth softener. You hardly ever see a refill bag for anything else, every now and then you spot some edible refill but none come to mind right now.

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  5. now that i think about it my local grocer also refills cooking oil bottles and reuses egg containers too..

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  6. I'm in the US, and Method (they manufacture soaps, detergents and the like) provides these types of refills on their products. I've been using their hand soap refills for quite a long while now - I can't really recall other brands that provide these options, though, now that I think about it.

    The refills produced by Methods are usually significantly larger than the dispenser, however, and have re-sealable screw tops. They're so amazingly convenient though, and the waste produced is much less in terms of amount and size.

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  8. Bleh I double posted! I was saying, that in Canada everything is in pouches ready for recycling. **( off topic: Cleansing oil, interesting! I use one from "Dermalogica" and have been wishing to find another brand. It's me Lilly btw. :D)

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  9. I'm in Canada too and I see SOME products in refills like that. Funnily enough, the body wash I buy for my kids (which is all "free of all nasty chemicals" and planet-friendly and all that) does not...though it DOES come in huge bottles, so that kind of makes up for it. I know there is one cleaner (it's a spray bottle) that, rather than coming with a refill, it comes with a little tube of tablets. When you use up all the product, you put a tablet in the bottle and add water to make more. They sell refills of just the tablets too. Now THAT is cool.

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  10. @Everyone - Thanks for chiming in. It sounds like (at least from this small sampling) that the U.S. is a late to jump on the refill bandwagon. Here's to hoping they catch on soon.

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  11. we have them in sweden too! mostly for handsoap and not every brand has it. But i live in a small town and i know bigger stores takes in more refill bottles than those in my local area, they just take too much space in a small store :D

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  12. I'm from singapore! We do have refills too! Make up remover oil, liquid, wipes too. Clothes washer, hand soap ^^

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  13. The US does have products you can refill. It usually depends on the manufacturer's choice or not. I see it more for handsoap than anything else, though.

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  14. Same as what Gemma said. The only thing you ever see refills for in stores are for handsoap, and even then it's only somewhat common, at least where I live in the USA. To be fair though, there are pen refills, but those are usually only reserved for the more expensive pens. :P

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  15. we have refills here in the Philippines, too. I usually buy those for the same reasons you do :) love your vids and I'm starting to read your blog. Congrats on your new baby!

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  16. We have many kinds of refills in Finland, like them too. Good for my wallet and good for environment, what else could i ask?

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  17. in Portugal they have refills, mostly to shampoo or body washer, but also for dish washer stuff, soap (the liquid one) and air freshners

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  18. We totally have refills in Malaysia. Money saver. As for me, I get to try different types of brands but still using the same case. Brilliant idea!

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  19. Yup, refills are available in Malaysia, just as Liawati Uret has mentioned.

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  20. Latvia and Great Britain have them, too

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  21. Hi everyboy! I've seen the refills in France, Germany and Italy. They are quite common in stores but not always popular among people. Btw, it's a really clever choice!

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  22. We do refills in Indonesia. From detergent, soap, make up, and milk powder... everything. :)

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  23. we have lots of refills here in Malaysia. i use mostly detergent and bath gel refills

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  24. Here in Mexico we got some catsup refills like this one : http://theboatgalley.com/wp-content/uploads/Catsup-Pouch.jpg

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  25. Hi Emmy ! I'm from Indonesia they do sell a lot of stuff like that
    Always love your vid keep doing it ♥♥

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  26. We are free refilling hand soap refill bag and all type of dispenser products in China

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  27. Hello! I need some help with what-if analysis example. I am pretty bad in writing. I am looking for a person who can write this analysis for me.

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