Moment on the lips, lifetime in a landfill. – Good Bottle Refill Shop
Good Bottle Refill Shop, New Jersey’s first refill shop with locations in Montclair and Maplewood, is passionate about reducing waste, especially when it comes to plastic.
We love how they took on the challenge of reducing waste recently at Maplewoodstock, the annual two-day free music and arts festival in July.
Good Bottle Refill Shop wanted to get people to think beyond the straw and consider how much better it can be to choose reusable utensils rather than reaching for a plastic knife and fork. As a vendor at Maplewoodstock, they knew they had a big audience and could make a big impact.
Founder Deanna Taylor-Heacock and her team came up with an idea based on a favorite item in the shops — a reusable utensils set. To get a large quantity for the festival, they stocked up on utensils at thrift stores and turnover sales and then cleaned and sanitized everything.
Says Taylor-Heacock of her experience at Maplewoodstock:
We decided to make this a free service instead of a rental and since we got such great deals on our stock, we didn’t care if folks decided to keep them.
Sure enough folks started showing up asking for a fork, a spoon or a knife. We also got most if not all back once they were finished. We put the used ones in a bin and washed them to keep for our next festival.
We were proud of making a dent in the useless plastic consumption that happens at these events. We got people to think beyond the straw and we loved meeting so many new neighbors and seeing our old friends too! See ya at the Montclair Jazz Fest!!
If you want to do your part to reduce waste, here are some tips from Good Bottle Refill Shop for your next BBQ.
Visit Good Bottle Refill Shop at 179 Glenridge Ave. in Montclair.