Fort Wayne refillery company targets reuse of single-use plastics
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A pop-up business in Fort Wayne is looking to educate residents about the ability to create a second life for their single-use plastics. Vessel Refillery FW allows people to bring their empty plastic or glass bottles and refill them with a variety of products from shampoo and conditioner to multi-purpose cleaners for the home.
Vessel Refillery was created by Heather Eracleous, who discovered the concept of refilleries on TikTok.
“I went down that TikTok rabbit hole and watched like hours upon hours about TikTok refilleries. And something inside of me stirred,” Eracleous told Inside INdiana Business. “I felt that our community doesn’t have anything like this, and we need something like this.”
If a person doesn’t have a container they want to fill, they can also get one from a community basket provided by others or buy a glass container from the company to fill. Customers will weigh the amount of product that they filled the container with and only pay for what they take.
Eracleous said the products that people can fill their containers with don’t just come from anywhere.
“When you fill your vessel with something, you’re filling it with items that are organic, vegan and cruelty free, made by a maker in small batches. So it’s not just good for you, but it’s also good for the environment.”
Eracleous has a day job as a community engagement manager for funeral homes, crematoriums and cemeteries. She said her 30 years of marketing experience taught her that the pop-up concept for her business was a good way to start.
“I know that I need to create some type of a following or at least educate people about it before I even open in brick and mortar, because then you’re kind of putting the cart before the horse,” she said. “So I thought I would get in front of some of these markets, you know, Saloman Farm [Farmers Market] and do a pop-up at Well Grounded Cafe and places like this, [so] that I could get people to start learning about refilling.”
Vessel Refillery FW launched in mid-May, and Eracleous said she is already seeing repeat customers, starting with a soft opening that she held at her house.
“My neighbor purchased our multi-purpose cleaner, and she showed up at the Allen County Market the other day with a huge container saying that she wants to fill that with our all-purpose cleaner because she’s hooked on it. That’s happening with all of the people who came to our soft opening. My very next event was the day after the soft opening, and it was at Well Grounded Cafe. I now have people that come every Friday to see me.”
The company also has non-refillable items for sale, including bamboo toothbrushes, beeswax wraps, toilet bombs and dish soap bars, among others.
Eracleous said her ultimate goal is to open a brick-and-mortar location, but she isn’t rushing the process. “I need the brick and mortar to be in a specific location. I’ll know it when I find it.”
Until then, she said she will continue working to educate the community about the benefits of utilizing the refillery.