SOAP Refill Station
Written by Cassidy Leighty, photos by Macy Abernathy
Have you been looking for ways to live a more environmentally conscious life? Look no further because the SOAP Refill Station is a one stop shop for all things sustainability! SOAP was opened by Anne Dezort in the summer of 2018. It’s a quaint and welcoming local business located downtown on South Campbell Avenue.
The mission at SOAP is to offer clean household and beauty products, and they are dedicated to reducing packaging waste. You can bring in your old, empty containers of any shape or size and refill them with whatever product you desire. SOAP even keeps a count of how many containers have been given a new life and saved from the landfill each time a customer makes a purchase.
I had the pleasure of being able to interview Dezort about her experience opening her own business, and I got some insight on her inspirations and motivations. When asked how she got the idea for SOAP she responded by saying, “It's not an original idea, other countries have been doing this for a long time and it was just taking too long for ours to catch on. They say ‘Be the change you want to see in the world,’ so we did it.”
When you first walk into the SOAP Refill Station, you are greeted with a bright and positive energy as well as the lovely scents of their various products. Dezort knows how important it is to provide products with transparent ingredient lists because she experiences allergies and sensitivities herself. This is the main reason why it is so important to her that all of their products are natural and organic.
SOAP offers a wide variety of household and personal hygiene products. From shampoo and conditioner, to hand soap, to practically every oil you can think of, the SOAP Refill Station has got you covered. At their oil bar which is located in the back of the shop, you can even build your own face mask! The possibilities are endless. They also sell other sustainability products such as reusable produce bags, bamboo toothbrushes, diva cups, reusable cotton face pads, and much more. And according to Dezort, they are constantly adding new products and taking product requests!
Dezort is passionate about reducing her environmental impact on the world, and she encourages others to do the same. Her advice to people who are interested in living more sustainably is “DO IT! Stop heroizing people doing good, and do some dang good already! It's easy and rewarding and less expensive. One step at a time. Even if it's something as small as refilling your laundry soap bottle — It's a baby step in the right direction. It all adds up.”
Since the pandemic, SOAP is now offering many different ways to get your goods. If you want to browse the options and fill your containers yourself, this is still an option for you (masks required). If you are a returning customer and already know what you want, there are a few additional ways to get SOAP products.
One option is to drop off your containers and come pick them up at a later time, and the SOAP employees will do the filling for you. They also have a delivery option to Springfield residents every Friday. All you have to do is call in your order earlier in the week or fill out the form on their website. Finally, they offer curbside service as well. The SOAP Refill Station has adapted to COVID, and they strive to keep their customers safe during these trying times.
Through this interview, it has been made very clear that Dezort is a humble leader in the community. When asked about the challenges of owning the business, Dezort modestly said, “It's Springfield's Soap shop, not ours. We just keep it clean and pay the bills. If anything I feel like dodging the spotlight as individuals is the hardest part. I don't want to be the face of refilling. I'm not the star of the show. The people refilling their containers are. A lot of media wants to put a face and name to it and that's just not important.”
The SOAP Refill Station is the perfect place to start if you are wanting to learn more about sustainability. This business stands for selflessness and accountability when making choices about how you live and how much you are contributing to our country’s problem with waste. Dezort put it perfectly when she said, “It’s not difficult to make empathetic decisions for our friends and families, right? So why should it be any different for our planet?” We only have one Earth, and we can all find ways to be kinder to her.