Matt’s Refillery
One of the best parts about being a part of a brand-new industry, the Zero-Waste movement, is the people in it. Mudd House Mercantile started with a pop-up shop in 2018 before getting our brick-and-mortar store in 2021. All over the world, around the same time, others also got fed up with our disposable culture and decided to do something about it. These are our kind of people.
Our family just took a trip to the northeast US and while walking around Troy, NY we stumbled across Matt's Refillery. It's a wonderful shop that shares the same core values as Mudd House Mercantile, but with its own distinct style. It also focuses on refills and not selling any single-use plastic in any of the products. We met Matt, the inspiring founder, working the counter.
We swapped stories of how it all started, and complained about vendors that refuse to sell products without trash. We talked about things that sell, how our communities are engaged with the vision of sustainability.
Although I'm thrilled to see the Zero-Waste movement blossoming nationwide, sometimes I daydream we all had shops in the same place because I'd really like to hang out with remarkable people like Matt more often. I'd encourage anyone in upstate NY to visit Matt's Refillery and tell him we said hi.
July 18th, 2023
A Dime is Worth so Much More than $0.10
by Micah Allen
Something weird is happening at my local supermarket. Compared to this time last year, a lot more people are bringing in reusable shopping bags. In Colorado, starting on Jan 1st, state law requires all stores to charge a dime for each bag.
Is cost the biggest reason for a massive change in behavior? I don’t believe it. With the cost of groceries skyrocketing, I just don’t believe an extra $0.10 is affecting any family grocery budget. Moreover, at the self-checkout, one has to self- report how many bags you take, so plastic-loving scofflaws could take as many bags as they like. Still, consumer behavior has changed massively, and instantly. Why?
Those ‘disposable’ film plastic bags are a far inferior experience. Mudd House Mercantile sells an array of stylish bags that’ll fit in your purse or back pocket and are far less likely to break open and dump your groceries on the sidewalk (Pro-tip: we’re not the only ones who have developed cloth grocery bag technology.) They’re much easier to carry, put in the car, and schlep into the house. This has always been true, but until January we used millions more plastic bags for ‘convenience.’ Why?
The real difference that a dime makes is awareness. When things don’t have a cost, our human brains often do not notice them. Even though that crappy plastic bag will outlast our civilization, it’s free so it doesn’t seem to matter. When one is forced to decide, we stop just long enough to think ‘why would I pay anything for that extra piece of garbage?’ That’s all it takes to make a profound shift.
Most coffee shops knock $0.10 off a cup of coffee if you bring your own cup. A disposable cup loses heat much faster and is much more likely to leak than a reusable cup (especially the ones sold from Mudd House Mercantile!) Still, almost everyone in your local Starbucks is drinking out of a piece of trash. Why?
I wonder what would happen if a coffee cost $0.10 less, but you had to pay an extra dime for a cup?
June 28, 2023
An Awkward Question
by Micah Allen
For fun, I ask a question that makes polite people look away in embarrassment. It’s not rude, cruel, divisive nor even sexual. Most Americans have a weird neurosis that can make a reasonable conversation, even between good friends, stall in awkwardness. You should try it. Ask a friend “Did you flush part of an old growth forest down the toilet, today?”
Not metaphorically, literally. Unless you know, for certain, that your toilet paper is 100% recycled, you probably hired someone to clear-cut a previously untouched Canadian forest. They ground up those massive, majestic trees, and shipped it to you to flush. About a million acres of forest is destroyed in Canada every year. You used it for a second, and that forest will never recover.
Virgin forests are not renewable. What was once an untouched wilderness may be planted with a monocrop of commercially viable trees that will be clear cut again in a decade, but about 14% of the land won’t even grow that. Most of the wildlife is gone and much of the Carbon that was safely locked up will find its way into the atmosphere. If you listen closely to your toilet flush you can hear a little bit of our ecosystem die.
It really doesn’t have to be this way. If you make the effort to choose them there are widely available brands of toilet paper that come from 100% recycled paper. Mudd House Mercantile proudly sells “Who gives a Crap” TP because it is both 100% recycled and also brings sanitary toilets to the developing world. We would love you to buy from us, but there are plenty of alternatives including ones at your supermarket. Consult this list and only buy A-graded TP.
Then, when I ask you “Did you flush part of an old growth forest down the toilet, today?” You can look me squarely in the eye and say “No, weirdo.”
PS) I should warn you that I have another awkward question that you can answer by saving both money AND the environment. It Is “If you got poop on your hand, would you wash it off with water or smear it off with paper?” Then we’ll talk about a simple, inexpensive, life-changing bidet.
June 9, 2023
Single-use plastic is Evil
by Micah Allen
Mudd House Mercantile does not allow single-use plastic anywhere in our supply chain. If a vendor won’t send us an “eco-friendly” product without wrapping it in plastic, we won’t sell it. This is harder than it sounds, and it has cost us some vendors and products. If we asked you to refill your reusable jars from a plastic jug that we throw away*, it’s still more plastic trash that will outlast our civilization. It does not matter whose garbage can it ends up in. Some don’t understand why we can’t just unwrap the items before putting them on display. They tell us ‘your customers won’t see any plastic!’ The problem is, of course, that we will.
Thankfully, we have a great suite of vendors who are thrilled to work with us because they care about the same things we do. Some, like Rustic Strength do ship their liquid in plastic containers, but they are happy to take them back and reuse them. In fact, because Rustic Strength is passionate about reducing waste too they are thrilled to collaborate with us. It turns out, they live on the same planet we do!
* Recycling plastic is trashing it too. The vast majority of things we ‘recycle’ are immediately sent to the dump; some is turned into a lower-grade plastic for a little while before getting trashed. It’s all waste that will exist forever. The Myth of Recycling is a blog post for another time.
May 23, 2023
The Dirtiest Phrase in the English language
The Mudd House Mercantile Linguistic Division has uncovered the filthiest phrase in the English language. It is so awful that those who do it should be shunned from society and their businesses should go bankrupt. If anyone, of any race/gender/identity proposes it in any sort of professional capacity they should be terminated without hesitation or recourse. It has absolutely no place in a decent, sustainable, society.
The phrase is “planned obsolescence.” This is the practice of designing products to break quickly or become obsolete in the short to mid-term. It is that cute shirt that falls apart the first time you wash it. It is the phone that is designed to run slower when they’d like you to buy a new one. It is the hairbrush that breaks inexplicably. It is those pants that are ‘incredibly trendy’ one week, and ‘embarrassingly outdated’ the next. Another phrase, “they don’t make ________ like they used to” is most often said by older people who remember when those same things were built to last.
Humans need products to live, and businesses need to sell products to stay afloat. We get that. But some despicable people realized that if they can sell you something once, they can make more money if you buy it again and again. Let us be clear, them “making” more money is another way of saying “taking” more money from you.
The first planned obsolete products are often a little cheaper than a durable equivalent but by the time you buy the second, third, and fourth it costs a lot more. Each of those iterations costs our planet precious resources and adds to huge piles of waste that will slowly poison you and your great, great, great grandchildren.
Mudd House Mercantile strives to only sell products that are built to last, repairable if possible, and will naturally break down when they eventually wear out. We’d love it if you would buy products from us, but more importantly we don’t want you to be a sucker. If you ever discover you bought a product that became obsolete quicker than you think it should, make a commitment to never buy it again. Even if the replacement costs a little more up front, both you and the planet will save in the long run.
May 10, 2023
A Paper Towel is Shockingly Expensive.
A roll of paper towels costs a few dollars. In 2017 the average American spent about 17.50 a year on them. Throwing a cloth rag in the laundry is practically free.
Consider your other costs: drive to the store, purchase it, pay taxes, put it in a bag, drive it home. Then throw it away and pay someone to bury it in a dump (forever.) Throwing a cloth rag in the laundry is practically free.
Consider the cost to the planet: Clear cut a forest, mix pulped trees with bleaching chemicals, wrap it in a plastic film that will outlast civilization, and ship it thousands of miles to your store. Throwing a cloth rag in the laundry is practically free.
At Mudd House Mercantile we’d be thrilled if you bought our un-paper towels.” They are attractive, totally reusable, plastic-free through their whole supply chain and will pay for themselves over time. Every time you wipe up a spill you can think of the trees, industrial processes, plastic, shipping, and money that you won’t be spending. Throwing a cloth rag in the laundry is practically free.
If you don’t want to buy them, that’s ok too. Cut up an old T-shirt for rags and you’ll still reap all the savings. Mudd House Mercantile shares your planet, so we all save if you consume (and spend) less.
April 29th, 2023
The Problem With Plastic
I eat about one credit card worth of plastic every week. It’s not delicious, and certainly not good for me, but I do it anyway. I eat a little more every year. I force my daughter to do the same thing. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t choke down a whole card at once. I just mix it into every meal, and stir it into our water.
It’s gross, but it’s a decision I make every time I go to the store and buy anything in plastic. That plastic won’t ever go away, recycling only affects a tiny fraction temporarily, so eventually it’ll all just become microscopic chunks of plastic that infects everything on earth. Forever. The coffee I drank this morning might have some plastic from a disposable cup my grandparents used decades ago. When I open a jug of “eco friendly”, hormone-free, free range milk, my daughter will eventually also drink the plastic jug over the next few decades. So will her (theoretical) kids. And their kids too. And you. And your kids. Yum.
It’s not easy to reduce our waste when we are continually inundated with packaging. But, reducing plastic consumption is essential to help preserve our planet and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. It's possible to take small steps like bringing reusable bags to the store, using refillable water bottles, and avoiding single-use plastics. We are working hard to bring more options for thoughtful consumption because opting for products with minimal packaging can significantly contribute to reducing plastic waste. These are habits we are working hard to make a priority!
April 21, 2023
Easy Earth Day Every Day
As we celebrate Earth Day and reflect on our impact on the environment, it's crucial to consider ways we can reduce our waste and live more sustainably. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by using reusable products in our daily lives. Here are some examples of easy switches that anyone can make to live more sustainably:
Reusable water bottles: Switching to a reusable water bottle made from eco-friendly materials like stainless steel or glass can have a significant impact on the environment. Bottled water generates a large amount of waste, with most of it ending up in landfills or oceans. In 2018, only 23% of plastic bottles were recycled, leaving the rest to pollute the environment.
Reusable grocery bags: Using reusable bags made from natural materials like cotton or canvas can reduce your environmental impact. Plastic bags are a major source of pollution as they are non-biodegradable and can release harmful chemicals into the soil and water. They also pose a threat to marine animals that often mistake them for food.
Reusable straws: Plastic straws are another common source of waste that can harm marine life when they end up in the ocean. Reusable straws made from materials like stainless steel or bamboo are a sustainable alternative that can be used again and again.
Cloth napkins: Disposable paper napkins are a common source of waste at mealtimes. Cloth napkins are a more sustainable option that can be washed and used again, reducing waste and saving money in the long run. Logging for paper production contributes to deforestation, which is a significant environmental concern.
Beeswax wraps: Single-use plastic wrap is a major source of waste in the kitchen. Beeswax wraps are a sustainable alternative that can be used to wrap food and keep it fresh. They are made from natural materials and can be washed and used again and again.
Reusable coffee cups: Disposable coffee cups are a major source of waste, with billions of them ending up in landfills each year. Reusable coffee cups made from materials like glass or stainless steel are a sustainable alternative that can be used again and again.
Cloth diapers: Disposable diapers are a major source of waste that can take hundreds of years to decompose in the environment. Cloth diapers are a more sustainable option that can be washed and used again, reducing waste and saving money in the long run. The production and disposal of disposable diapers have significant environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions and the release of harmful chemicals.
Menstrual cups: Disposable menstrual products, such as pads and tampons, generate a significant amount of waste. Menstrual cups are a reusable and eco-friendly alternative for managing menstrual flow. Made from medical-grade silicone, menstrual cups can be used for several years, reducing the need for disposable products and reducing waste.
Reusable food containers: Single-use plastic containers are a major source of waste in our daily lives. Reusable food containers made from materials like glass or stainless steel are a sustainable alternative that can be used again and again. They are perfect for packing lunches, storing leftovers, or taking food on the go. Take out containers made of non-biodegradable materials like polystyrene or single-use plastics can take hundreds of years to decompose and can harm wildlife and ecosystems. Additionally, the production of these containers requires the consumption of significant amounts of energy and natural resources.
Small changes can make a significant impact when they are multiplied many times over. It's important to consider the products we buy and use, as they can have a big impact on the environment. By choosing responsibly sourced products and being mindful of our purchasing habits, we can reduce our environmental footprint and help protect the planet. This Earth Day, let's celebrate by committing to using more sustainable products and making a conscious effort to reduce our impact on the environment.