Reducing plastic waste through Refill Revolution

The Refill Revolution booth was back on campus and was set up at the Gonzaga Foyer from 17-19 October 2022. Refill Revolution was well received when it was first held near the Gonzaga Chapel last 12 September 2022, prompting a longer popup.

Despite busy schedules, Ateneo community members made the effort to bring their own containers to refill kitchen and personal essentials, such as hand soap, dishwashing liquid, powder detergent, and shampoo. The booth also highlighted locally-made and upcycled tote bags, hats, aprons, and more!

During the three days, 395 pieces of single-use plastic packaging were avoided with 75 of these being from refills. The event received such a warm welcome! The Ateneo Institute of Sustainability team will surely hold another one next month.

The Philippines has been identified as the third largest generator of mismanaged plastic waste in the world, with over 1.88 million metric tons of plastic waste produced annually. Although recycling has been highlighted as a solution to the plastic crisis, only 2% of plastics are effectively recycled into materials (ex. a plastic water bottle into a new plastic bottle). Most recyclable plastics are "downcycled" meaning these are turned into a single-use plastic item (ex. a plastic bottle into a plastic bag) which will eventually be thrown away. This is a wake up call to rethink our relationship with packaging and redesign business models.

Refill shops, like Back to Basics Ecostore, are great examples of how - with a little effort - we can revolutionize the way we shop! By choosing to refill our own containers with household and personal care goods, we break out of the throwaway mentality and embrace a more circular economy. Innovative business practices like this rethink and redesign the way we shop and are one of the many ways both businesses and consumers can address the plastic crisis together.

This event is brought to you by the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability in partnership with Back to Basics Ecostore and the Ateneo Environmental Science Society.
 

A photo album of the event can be found here.