My name is Tiffany and I'm the owner of Full Circle Refillery. I come from all over, Tennessee, Mississippi, Michigan, and Georgia have all been my home but my heart lives in Tennessee (Chattanooga to be specific). I've always had a passion for reducing my waste and trying to come up with alternatives to traditionally single use items but I never knew how I could share that love with the world or even just my community. After having discovered refilleries on TikTok and actually having the privilege of being a customer when I still lived in Michigan, I knew this was going to be my calling. Now as a mother of 2, my low waste journey has proven to be a bigger task than I ever thought possible but I'm excited to face it head on and to instill these values in my children as well to ensure they're also paving the way for a better future. I'm just so excited to be able to share some of what I have learned along the way with you and hope that you get excited about it too! Whether you're on this journey to save money, to reduce toxic chemicals in your life, to reduce your carbon footprint or just to simplify your life, I hope to be able to add value for you and help you along the way.
Something that I want you to know is that I truly support wherever you are in this journey. Some people are IN IT, trash in a mason jar, IN IT, while some of you may have just bought your first roll of reusable paper towels, straw, or water bottle. Whatever the path, I'll walk it with you, progress over perfection every single time and that's so important to me because I want this journey to also be a sustainable one for you, sometimes jumping in with two feet can be overwhelming and we bite off more than we can chew so take it slow and meet yourself where your mental load can take it. Then once you've adjusted, on to the next thing, we're never stagnant but never under pressure. Zero waste is next to impossible, all we can do is lead by example (and vote of course ;) ) and hope that what we do is seen and empowers others to make changes in their lives as well.
Another small item that I want to touch on is going to be more of that consumer culture. We hear a lot things get thrown around like biodegradable, recyclable, non-toxic, sustainable, zero waste, are capitalist buzzwords that make you feel good about giving away your money. These words can be so ambiguous and misleading so I personally will try to stay away from them or be more specific when it comes to products that we offer here. Our line of refillable items will always be closed loop, meaning that the containers go back to the original company to be reused, rather than ending up in a landfill. We will do our absolute best to ensure that products are home compostable rather than requiring an industrial facility, and as far as recyclability, we don't have a lot of products that will end up in recycle. Unfortunately it's a pretty broken system right now so we feel that it's best if the containers get reused or if they go back to the earth, this is also why many items will come unpackaged. We will also more times than not refer to our business as low waste or a refillery rather than a zero waste store, we will always try our best but until we are TRULY net zero, I don't want to throw those words around.
In addition to what I've talked about so far, I'll also post some local resources for you regarding composting, recycling, where to find secondhand items, where to take your secondhand items, and other local businesses that offer greener solutions to what you may be looking for. I also have a commitment to a circular economy where we keep as much of our dollar in our community as we possibly can, there is enough talent and resource here, I just want to put it all in one place for you to be able to access all that you need. I'm so happy to have you and I can't wait to help you on your way to low waste,