School product refill station

We know that our planet is suffering from the onslaught of plastic waste, and the only real way is to prevent the use of plastic packaging as much as possible. The Czech company Tierra Verde is a manufacturer of certified natural eco-friendly cleaning products. It also offers shops and schools the opportunity to set up a dispensary of their products to support package-less sales. The school dispensary allows parents and school community to come up with their own containers to refill. This package free dispensary helps schools to support a zero waste, minimalist, and low impact lifestyle and educate students about minimizing plastic waste. The dispensary now works in three schools in the Czech Republic.

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'Refilling and re-using cleaning product bottles saves a lot of plastic waste'

How is the project linked to climate change & sustainability?

Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and micro particles) in the natural environment, which adversely affects wildlife, habitats and humans. 40% of all plastics are used only once before they are disposed of and are rarely recycled. Plastics are part of our everyday lifestyles. One million plastic bottles are sold every minute world-wide. This project reduces the use of these harmful and wasteful plastics.

Who is involved?

Once the school decides to use the Tierra Verde eco-cleaning products, it registers as a customer on the company’s website, creates a customer account and can start ordering the products. If a school is interested in creating the Tierra Verde eco-products dispensary, the company will bring in the stands, bulk products and provides school personal with training. The school buys Tierra Verde products at wholesale prices and sells them at club prices to parents and members of the school community.

Three schools are now involved in the project in the Czech Republic. The kindergarten in Zabreh is involved in the Ecoschool project and is using the dispensary for its own cleaning. In the Primary school Via Libertatis the dispensary is used not only by school staff but also by parents of the pupils.

How are the participants involved?

The school dispensary is usually run by the school caretaker or administrator. Parents can also get involved and help with product refilling. Pupils can help with the maintenance of the shop and they take part in the family shopping.

Key steps:

Here are some ideas on how you could set up a eco-filling station in your own school:

• Find a local supplier of eco-cleaning products that can supply you and purchase the products

• Promote the concept to your parents and school community

• Involve the pupils in running the project with key tasks and information

Tierra Verde provides the following supporting functions which could be requested in other locations:

• The ability to open an e-shop

• The facility to register your school as a customer

• The opportunity to set up a meeting with the customer support team to install the dispensary stands and training session.