New Vail Valley business Fill & Refill offers refillable daily-use, organic products
'It's a small space, but hopefully I'll make an impact'
Allison Burgund opened Fill & Refill in Edwards in October. The business offers refillable, organic daily-use products such as shampoo and soap, and Burgund is already looking to expand — both her product line and locations.
Chris Dillmann | cdillmann@vaildaily.com
Fill and refill — it’s a simple concept. Fill & Refill is a new business in Edwards, taking away the cost of packaging and plastic-waste contribution by offering refillable daily-use, organic products — from body washes, shampoos and conditioners to hand soap, body lotion, menstrual hygiene products, toothpaste tablets and more.
With paper, glass and metal refillable packaging for organic, biodegradable products, Fill & Refill is a business cutting into the county’s carbon footprint.
“They all work really well,” owner Allison Burgund said of the products vetted at her family of four’s home in Edwards. “They all smell really great and feel really great. Most importantly, they don’t have toxins for your body — or my kids — and the environment.”
Brands in Fill & Refill include Bee’s Wrap, Smartliners, Dr. Bronner’s All-One, EO Products, Sapadilla, Wildland Organics and more.
The cost of refills ranges from 30 cents per ounce to 70 cents per ounce. Burgund has refillable jars available for purchase, as well as rent. A starter kit features a tote bag, two glass bottles and pumps as well as fills on each bottle for $27.
After 20 years in the business of graphic design, Burgund is starting a new chapter with Fill & Refill.
“I found a new passion,” she said from her small shop in Edwards, where smells are free. “It’s a small space, but hopefully I’ll make an impact.”
In addition to offering refillable daily-use products, Burgund is focused on educational outreach, including working with Edwards Elementary School to add a recycling box for snack wrappers, collaborating with Walking Mountains Science Center and Knapp Ranch, as well as ensuring amenity kits are provided in local rental properties across the valley.
‘I like the concept of refilling’
Refillable
After a trip to the local recycling center with her daughter’s second-grade class two years ago, Burgund decided to collect her family of four’s plastic trash for a month to see how they were contributing.
“It was much bigger than I thought,” she said, adding that plastic recycling is essentially trash, citing National Geographic’s report that 91% doesn’t get recycled.
She reached out to grocery stores in Eagle and Summit counties asking them to offer refillable products, with no luck. So she started researching and testing products herself, looking at other zero-waste stores that sell products used on a daily basis — hand soap, laundry soap, shampoo, deodorant, etc.
One of the first products she tested with her two children was having them make their own bubble baths starting with unscented, organic essential oils and adding scents like lime, orange and grapefruit.
“I really like local companies because that’s the best support of reducing a carbon footprint — less travel, less gas and less packaging,” she said.
“That’s a nice, tidy little way to handle some of that stuff, and I feel like it teaches kids that they can make a difference,” said Burgund, whose kids are 7 and 9 years old.
With Fill & Refill, Burgund is currently a team of one, but she is looking to expand — with both the product line as well as satellite locations in Vail and Eagle.
“I like the concept of refilling,” Burgund said. “I think eventually it should not just be limited to the healthiest products, although that’s what I believe in.”