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Eco-friendly soaps and cleaning products are often sold in a format that discourages packaging waste — in packets designed for dilution at home, for example — but it wasn’t until just recently that we came across an entire store dedicated to that purpose. Sure enough, The Soap Dispensary in Vancouver, BC, bills itself as “a refill store specializing in premium household soaps, cleaners and personal care products.” The Soap Dispensary, which opened in October, offers a wide range of biodegradable and gentle soaps suitable for children, pets and people with sensitivities and allergies. A variety of established Canadian soap brands are represented among its offerings, as are products from other regions that fit with the store’s refill-friendly focus. Bubble baths, moisturizers, shampoos, fabric softeners, stain removers, laundry detergents, non-chlorine bleach and more can all be found at The Soap Dispensary in bulk quantities and fully reusable bottles, thus helping to keep single-use plastic packaging out of landfills, watersheds and recycling systems. Reusable containers in plastic or glass can also be purchased separately. Meanwhile, an in-store workshop series with an emphasis on handmade goods will include lessons on candle making, orange peel box making and chocolate making, to name just a few. Last year the United States alone generated some 31 million tons of plastic waste, according to the EPA, and only 8 percent of that was recovered through recycling. Time to set up something similar in your local area? Spotted by: Magda Dominik