Top off your sustainable shopping experience at The Refillery Supply Co.

The Northeast neighborhood of Bozeman hosts multiple interesting, popular businesses. Places to get food like Wild Crumb and Fink’s Delicatessen, arts-based establishments like Tinworks Art and the Misco Mill Gallery, but many people don't know that there is a sustainable refillery. 

Across from the Treeline Coffee Shop is a small building that holds the headquarters of The Refillery Supply Co., a low-waste retailer where you can refill empty home and body care products.

“We’ll refill plastic bottles no problem — really any bottle,” said Sarah Sloan, the founder and owner of The Refillery Supply Co. “You can refill everything — hand soap to laundry detergent to shampoo.”

Sloan moved to Bozeman in 2015 and founded her business in 2020. The refillery started as an idea before Sloan opened a pop-up booth, the original business model.

“I was kind of frustrated back in 2020. It seemed like recycling was kind of our only way to make a difference,” she said. “It really excited me that there could be another option, and that's when I started researching refilleries. There were only a couple at that point.”

Sloan said her inspiration was a similar refillery she had seen in California. “It was 2020, so I think everyone was a little more bold about opening businesses,” she said. 

And so, she started her business as a booth at the Lindley Park Farmers Market.

“I was at the farmers market that whole summer,” Sloan said. “That was obviously COVID times, so I morphed into doing more deliveries and pickups out of my house.”

After running the refillery from her home for four years, Sloan said she moved her business into its current space in the spring of 2024. “We’ve been here for two years. It's been really nice to have a storefront and expand the options that we can sell,” she said.

Her store is cozy. It's a small room, with a curtain hiding the back wall and a homey feel. She shares the space with Matt Saporito and his business, Brick Bound Leather Goods. Her side of the room has neat shelves carrying all sorts of sustainable goods.

The store is like any other, carrying lots of biodegradable or reusable low-waste products. The difference from a typical store is you can also bring in any container and get it filled with a liquid product you need, like laundry detergent, hair conditioner or sunscreen.

“One of the really cool things about refilling is that you can get only how much you want,” Sloan said. “You can bring your shampoo bottle in and be like, ‘Hey, I only want this refilled like a quarter, because that's all I’ll go through.’ That's kind of a nice thing, is that you don’t have to go to the store and buy a bunch of stuff.”

According to Sloan, she is very intentional when sourcing products to sell. “That's a big part of what I do on the back end, is researching these businesses and making sure I'm bringing in good stuff,” she said.

Sloan said her products come from all over. “I would say 99 percent is made in the U.S., like small U.S. businesses. Probably 90 percent is small women- [or family-] owned businesses.”

According to The Refillery Supply Co. website, the business sells goods from numerous sustainable suppliers. This includes local Bozeman businesses like Adorn Designs biodegradable glitter, oils from Glo Luxury Oils, and candles and hand sanitizer from Hyalite & Co.

As well as these products from local businesses, The Refillery Supply Co. stocks everything from deodorant and shampoo to stain remover and glass cleaner.

“I’m always looking for new products to bring in, things made by generally small businesses, women-owned businesses and businesses who care about the environment,” Sloan said. “I’m trying to keep it as local as possible, but also more important to me is sourcing things that people like to use and have good ingredients and are made in the U.S.”

For more information about The Refillery Supply Co., visit its website https://therefillerysupply.co