As the pandemic’s grip on the world loosens, shops are starting to open back up and new stores are opening their doors. Fulfillery, one of the latter, is a store dedicated to plastic-free packaging. They sell a diverse array of products that discourage the use of plastic and other non-biodegradable materials, ranging from shampoo bars to toothpaste tabs. Fulfillery’s mission is to be a leader in decreasing single-use plastic usage in the DC metro area for household and personal care products, offering a promising start for people new to sustainable living.
I had the honor to talk to one of the seven founders of the store, Rini Saha. She was previously a high school science teacher and is the founder of the nonprofit GreenThinker DC (a nonprofit that promotes a zero-waste lifestyle). Saha recognized the insufficiency of exclusively encouraging recycling as an effective method to combat climate change, especially when the practice was not adopted in accordance with reducing or repurposing. Instead of preventing non-biodegradable waste from ending up in landfills, why not cease using it altogether?
Saha along with Susan Cho (an active community member on the Board of the TPSS Co-op and co-founder of Maitri House, an intentional community), Emoke Gaidosh (founder of Costa Cosmetics who uses her background as a chemist to create her soaps and detergents), Christelle Carito (who works for an international nonprofit focused on financial inclusion), and three other trailblazing women, founded Fulfillery to make zero waste living more accessible and to integrate business and culture in the fight for environmental progress.
The brand is particularly conscious about product quality, sourcing, and production. Products can be regionally sourced to support the local economy and reduce the carbon footprint, or even made in-house with careful attention to fair trade practices. Containers can be returned to the store for repurposing or refilling, but most products are packaged in compostable material. Fan favorites at Fulfillery include Meliora (an all-purpose home cleaning tablet), refillable laundry detergent, all-purpose tabs, and biodegradable loofah sponges.
Fulfillery is a strong advocate for environmental education and awareness, specifically regarding plastic waste. They endorsed the “Plastic-Free July” international event to reduce plastic usage in our daily lifestyle. Saha recommends the documentary “Tapped” directed by Stephanie Soechtig and Jason Lindsey. Another resource to check out is John Oliver’s episode on the environment (Plastics), which is an entertaining and eye-opening look at the climate crisis. The current culture is extremely plastic dependent, but hopefully, like Saha and the rest of the Fulfillery team, as more enterprises take initiative, we as a collective will be more adept to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.
Fulfillery is located in Takoma Park at 7006 Carroll Ave. Suite 204, right above Mark’s Kitchen. They are open from 11 to 5 Thursday to Saturday and 10 to 3 on Sundays. You can check out their inventory on their website at www.fullfillery.com.
By Jupleen Kaur
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