Photo Courtesy: Homespun Refillery via Facebook

By Veronica Beltran

Zero-waste pandemic

‘It made me feel helpless and hopeless’: Leading a zero-waste lifestyle during a pandemic

Sep 29, 2020 | 5:00 AM

PRINCE GEORGE–Living a zero-waste lifestyle has not come easy to those looking at reducing their waste locally, and for one Prince George resident it was enough to push her into starting her own business.

Kyla Wilhelmsen says that as soon as the pandemic was declared her shopping experience changed drastically, “the immediate impact was when I went to the grocery store…I was no longer able to refill my existing containers at the bulk section, I wasn’t able to utilize cloth produce bags,” she said in an over the phone interview.

“It made me feel helpless…and hopeless.”–Kyla Wilhelmsen, owner/operator, Homespun Refillery

She says that eating out became newfound guilt for her, as every meal came wrapped in single-use containers. She says she went from shopping at bulk stores to no longer being able to, “usually I would have six to a dozen containers that I would bring and fill, and then when COVID hit if I continued to shop there I’d be leaving with almost a dozen plastic bags.”

So during the pandemic, she’s been getting creative with how she makes her purchases, looking for food packaged in glass containers, asking community members for herbs from their gardens, and sometimes learning how to simply do without.

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“I realized that even in this day and age there are very few sustainable plastic options available for consumers and corporations, for product packaging.”–Kyla Wilhelmsen, owner/operator, Homespun Refillery

Starting her own zero-waste business had always been something on the back of her mind, and after seeing the waste created over the past several months she decided to start her own business.

She created Homespun Refillery, where she offers house-hold products to her customers in a zero-waste way. For those trying to reduce their waste she says she encourages them to reduce, recycle, repurpose and reuse; reusing being a very effective way to try and lead a zero-waste life, according to Wilhelmsen. “Consider where things are coming from and where they’re going to end up,” she adds.

“We can’t be perfect but every mindful choice that we make will make an impact,” said Wilhelmsen.