Haute Talk with Janette Spiezio | Zero Waste Living, Refill Stores, and Conscious Consumption

What if the easiest way to reduce your environmental impact starts with the products you use every single day?

In this episode of The Lexy Show, Lexy Silverstein sits down with Janette Spiezio, founder of Sustainable Haus Mercantile and co-chair of Beyond Plastics New Jersey. After questioning the ingredients in everyday household products, Janette turned her curiosity into a mission to make low-waste living practical, approachable, and accessible for everyone.

Together, Lexy and Janette unpack what it really means to live a zero waste lifestyle without striving for perfection. They discuss the rise of refill stores, simple swaps that reduce plastic waste, and how everyday purchases can have a lasting impact on both personal health and the environment. The conversation also explores hidden sources of toxins, including PFAS, receipts, and microplastics, while explaining why understanding product ingredients is more important than ever. Instead of focusing on guilt or impossible standards, Janette shares realistic habits that anyone can start incorporating today, whether you're just beginning your sustainability journey or looking to take it further.

Follow Janette and Sustainable Haus Mercantile:
📍 Instagram: @sustainablehausmercantile
🌎 Website: https://sustainablehaus.com

If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to subscribe to The Lexy Show, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who's ready to make more mindful choices for themselves and the planet.

Transcript

lex-janette

[00:00:00] Welcome to the.

Speaker: Welcome to Lexy Show Fashion that gives today where we expose fast fashion and celebrate the brands and products actually making a difference for our planet. I'm Lexi Silverstein. Today I'm talking with Jeanette Speed, owner and maker of sustainable House Mercantile, a clean Living Lifestyle store offering over 3000 zero waste Home goods and refillable essentials designed to make low waste living actually accessible. If you're new here, head to look silver sign.com for information on sustainable fashion and eco-conscious living. And if you love what you hear, subscribe and share this episode.

It helps more than you think. Jeanette, welcome. How are you doing?

 let's start at the beginning. What made you want to open Sustainable House and what gap did you feel like existed in the market? 

Speaker 3: So Sustainable House is a zero waste refill store, and that means you can bring your own container to refill, shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, all the essentials from cleaning [00:01:00] products to personal care.

And there's a lot of refill stores. There isn't, a gap in the marketplace other than there's not enough of us and there's not enough of us. 'cause there's not enough people shopping that way. So it was just something that I wanted to do from an environmental perspective and it started with me wondering what the ingredients were in my laundry detergent and being unsatisfied and saying, I'm just gonna make my own and figuring other people are gonna want this too.

And so I started making laundry detergent and I started going to farmer's markets to sell it. And I just knew I wanted a brick and mortar and that's what we did. And so we are different. You guys have lots of zero waste refill shops out in California and throughout the US and what really sets us apart.

So California has a lot of store, a lot of ones that have food. We don't have any food, but we have everything. We have 3000 items and you can get, bakeware and baby stuff. And we really run the [00:02:00] gamut 'cause we want it to have, we want it to be a one stop shop and we're still working on it.

We get bigger every day. 

Speaker: I love it. That is so incredible. So clean living and low waist can feel overwhelming to people. So how did you define what that actually looks like for your store? 

Speaker 3: I think that what's really interesting is, I agree with you, it can be very overwhelming. I think people come in for a whole host of reasons.

Some people come in because we have services like knife sharpening and dish rentals. Other people come in 'cause they just need a little gift. We do a really nice baby gift. And other people come in 'cause they're looking for a refill, a better shampoo. They have eczema, they have, they're trying to live clean because of a whole host of reasons.

And they come in for any one reason and we don't really care what reason you come in for. We're just happy you came in at all. And once you come in for any reason, then you keep coming. 'cause you're like, oh my gosh, what is this place? It's really cool. And sometimes people come from a distance. So [00:03:00] today we had as I was leaving the store to come talk to you we had two women come in from Long Island, which is probably a good hour and a half drive.

And. We get that a lot. So we are so happy when people come in and they often want to buy a lot of stuff. And sometimes I'm just like, change is hard. Don't change everything. Because when I talk to somebody who spends a lot of money and they come back later and I'll be like, oh, how was the shampoo bar?

And they're like, I didn't try it yet. I bought it, but I didn't try it yet. And I'm like, you've been sitting on it for six months. No. So sometimes you wanna just be paced at it, and I know you and your audience focuses on fashion and and thrifting and all the other options, but you don't change your wardrobe overnight.

So you don't change your lifestyle overnight. It just takes a few minutes and make the changes that you can easily incorporate in your life. And once you're comfortable with those, keep making more. [00:04:00] 

Speaker: I love it. I think that's such great advice. And I agree. I think that when a lot of people start to be, wanna become more sustainable, it's oh, I should throw out all of these plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles in my bathroom.

And I'm like no. Slow down. Use those first. The product's already there, you already purchased it. And then once, once it's empty, then we can start making these little changes. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. And you can certainly take that old shampoo bottle and come fill it with new shampoo, liquid. It's gonna be just as lovely.

You can also switch to, it's my only prop, a bar best bar on the market. And and for this, you don't even have to remember a bottle. Just, it's a box. Just a piece of cardboard. And what we have found is. Do you know, you, you must experience this. I know you do a lot of cleanups and you're out and about a lot.

Do you experience people who say, I wish they would do something about that. You and me and we are they. And so is the person saying it. And what we found at the store, 'cause we [00:05:00] talk to a lot of people every day, is that you start on this journey anywhere. And I know that if your first move is a shampoo bar or laundry detergent, 'cause you want something better touching your skin, you're pretty quickly gonna move through all the different options.

And we don't sell used clothing. We don't really have much clothing at all in the store a tiny bit. But we know that all of our customers at some point are gonna be big thrifts. And if they're buying new, they're gonna be buying sustainably sourced ethical brands. And and you and I both know that the people that are shopping refills and thrifting and buying sustainable brands and watching our social media, they're the ones that are gonna volunteer for a beach cleanup.

They're signing up to be, part of Sierra Club or Beyond Plastics. And we are the change makers. And it starts by learning and just getting into it because once you can't go back. 

Speaker: Yeah, completely. I think it, that's just a great [00:06:00] way in general of starting your sustainable journey, do the one thing and then it leads you down this rabbit hole of all these other things.

That's what happened for me when I learned about the fashion industry and I was like, oh gosh, this is horrible. I'm switching everything I, I'm doing. But now that I feel really, content with my closet and my shopping habits, and I'm still learning every single day, but I feel a lot better about it than I once was.

I've switched doing these other things and getting rid of paper towels in my kitchen and I actually just was speaking to someone about laundry detergent. And I literally just made my boyfriend go get a laundry detergent and I was like, try to get an eco friendlier one. But I was speaking with someone and I was like, oh, I can just make this this is so easy to make and then you can make a huge thing of it and you don't even have to go and buy.

More of it and you can just do it with some of the things you might have laying around your house. Yeah. And so then when you learn those things it sends you, deeper and deeper down this rabbit hole of Yeah. Sustainability and it's great. 

Speaker 3: [00:07:00] Yeah. So I just started doing I just started doing a Facebook subscription series and the whole idea of it is just come along the path.

We're gonna tell you everything, changes to make each week we're gonna have a focus and we're gonna bring you through changes. And so it's in its initial phases. So one of the things I did was my nine non-negotiables and I'm debating if I'm gonna add a 10th one. But so things that are just like automatics and I'll give you three examples.

And it's one is never touch register receipts 'cause they're coded in BPA or bisphenol a. It's like an additive to plastic. It's just hormone disruptor. It's terrible. So never touch register receipts. Easy one. Another one is that no microwave popcorn. So you can microwave popcorn kernels, but you can't eat microwave popcorn.

And it's just, it's the PFAS or forever chemicals that are non-stick. It's the type of butter, or not butter, they, it's like, everything about it is bad. [00:08:00] Everything. I did a video on, and I'm gonna do another one, but my last one. So those are like two easy ones, right? And they don't cost you anything.

You just stop doing Yeah. Do everyday habits that so many young people are used to doing, just grabbing the receipt and microwave the popcorn. So just stop those two things. You can ask why later. And then my, the, my last one is when you're making a big purchase research, right? So you're in your own apartment and you're thinking, I need a new rug.

Don't just go buy the first rug on sale at Home Depot or wherever. Think about what materials is it gonna be coated because it's the same basic issues, right? It's just cheaply produced, generally synthetic. It's gonna have lots of coating. So it's like stain resistant and all those wonderful things that make them make it super toxic, 

Speaker: right?

Speaker 3: And and then just think about it, right? And then you're gonna make a better choice and, 'cause you can't make them all at once. But if you do need something bigger and you do need to spend a chunk of money, do it. 

Speaker: [00:09:00] Yeah. See, these are great tips because I do. At least the first two for sure.

Speaker 3: Okay. And to make you feel a little better, there are three places, CVS, whole Foods and trader Joe's that have receipts that aren't coded. But 

Speaker: oh, 

Speaker 3: I don't usually get into that because number one, I think it's really hard to remember which receipts are Okay. 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: Number two, I don't know how much I really trust it.

Because generally when you don't have BPA in something, you use BPS, bp something. I do think those three are pretty good. 'cause you can do a, the, there's a little home test you can do to see if it's a heat generated label and they're, they seem to be a little different. So I think they're probably okay, but I just never touch a receipt and I go to those three places and I just say, no receipt.

Thanks. Okay. Good to know. So for example let's go to food for a second. Not what we're really talking about, but we're just gonna go there for a second. A can of PEA has. All cans, every can beer, can soda, can [00:10:00] canopies, they're all lined in plastic. And that's because acidic food and different foods would corrode the metal.

If you've ever seen a, just a, an old rusty can or coffee can that's been left out, eventually it rusts and it gets gross. So to avoid that with food that is very shelf stable, everything is lined in plastic. So a can of piece has a certain amount of BPA or phenols. A register receipt has 250 to a thousand times as much as a canopies would have.

And. Your skin is really absorbent, it absorbs it right away. And if you think that sanitizer is good, no sanitizer makes it more absorbent. Oh gosh. 

So at the, so I go, I thrift a lot, I make a lot of stuff from thrifted fabrics and thrifted textiles. So I'm always at the thrift store and I wear pretty much all thrifted clothes, so I'm always thrifting.

And at the thrift store to leave, you have to show your receipt. Yeah. It's [00:11:00] not an uncommon thing. So I just take something that I've bought and I just, put it in my hand and I pinch it. Yeah. And then I grab the receipt and then I'm on my way. Because that's one place that I have to take it to get outta the door.

But everywhere else I just say no thanks, or email it. And we don't use it. And it's anything heat generated. So if we wanna get really specific, think about your Amazon box label. Maybe a dry cleaner receipt. Could be even a thrift store tag. They're often heat generated.

Anything that's heat generated that fades over time is toxic. So just don't touch 'em. 

Speaker: I'm learning so many valuable things right now. Thank you. 

Speaker 3: And they're just little life tips, right? Yeah. They're not even, it's not like you have to go zero waste chopping. You have to buy something just just a couple.

Like really 

Speaker: still touch the receipt. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker: Easy enough to do. I love that. That's so helpful. And I think that it's also like a great conversation starter. If I were to say something [00:12:00] about oh, I don't touch receipts. I feel like people would be like why is that? And I'd be like, I'm so glad you asked.

Yeah. 

Speaker 2: Yeah. 

Speaker: Let me take like I did with you. I was like, this is so interesting and I had no idea. And I think that kind of aside from necessarily being sustainable, a lot of people right now are interested in things like that, like the chemical side of things. Like they don't, they only wanna wear, organic cotton and they don't want to wear any polyesters or have any microplastics or chemicals like that.

So it's like sometimes to get people interested in the conversation, I will meet them where they're at. And I feel like that's something that I found more commonly is that people want to not necessarily talk about the environment, but they wanna talk about how it's affecting them and the chemicals. And I feel like that's a really interesting, conversation starter with that kind of topic.

Speaker 3: Yeah. 

Speaker: Yeah. Wow. I think 

Speaker 3: if you wonder why people come into the store, that is one of the reasons 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: [00:13:00] We have so many customers that have a health issue. 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: It could be that they've been through cancer. It could be that they're in the middle of it. It could be a family member, it could be as basic as eczema or we had one one mom came in and she said her daughter just itches her head every time she shampoos.

It's just terrible. And so she bought one of our liquid shampoos and was good. Everything was good. 

Speaker: Oh, 

Speaker 3: coming back. And she came in one day and she said at the breakfast table, my daughter is itching again. And she said, I was just beside myself. And she said, oh my God, I can't believe you're itching again.

And she said, oh, we ran outta the shampoo. I used my brothers. 

Speaker: Oh. 

Speaker 3: So it's, yeah. It can be really basic things, but once you start to get used to better products, a lot of other things get better in your life. 

Speaker: Yeah, I am having a similar thing with my lovely boyfriend who I live with, [00:14:00] who like stockpiled this one pair, or I think we were like at Costco or something, and he got this deodorant and I was like, no, use my, the, I forget what the brand is.

I think it's called Wild. And they have like refillable deodorant things and then it's like a more natural deodorant. And I was like, just pay the initial thing. At this point I'm just gonna buy him one, it's like $18. Pay the initial thing and then all you have to do is pay for like the $8 refills or something like that and it's better for you.

And he was like why would I do that when I can get like four of them for $18 at Costco? And I was like, Ugh. Usually he's like more sustainable than I am because he does not shop and he only he's worn the same clothes since we started dating seven years ago. Like he is, he's like very under consumption.

But this deodorant thing led to his armpits getting a rash on them. And then they started, [00:15:00] his skin started peeling and I was like, oh my God, I don't know what to say either that I told you and so he switched to a deodorant that he was using beforehand that didn't give him a rash. And I was like, still not sustainable, not a good alternative.

And he's still having the issue, so I'm gonna buy him a more sustainable deodorant and be like I told you 

Speaker 3: okay. So I have to ask you, Lexi, does he use a plastic razor? Oh, it wouldn't be an issue. Okay, nevermind. Okay. Hang on. 

Speaker: I was like, yeah, I don't think he changed his armpits. 

Speaker 3: Okay. So I, so for me, I went on vacation and instead of taking my usual safety razor Yeah.

My metal razor, I grabbed a plastic one just for the vacation. It was just a week and we're in Europe and I was like, that'd be easier. And we got there and that was one thing I needed to do. So the first thing I do, we get there, I shave my shaved, my armpits. Yeah. And oh my God. Burning red rash.

Yeah. It was a disaster. It's that nasty little strip on the razor that is horrible. For women, so probably wouldn't be his issue, but for a lot of women it could be a big issue. I was 

Speaker: like thinking about it and I was like, does he? And then I was like, wait, but he does the shaved surface.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Sorry. No, I think that's a good, that's also a good thing to shout out my, I do believe my mom uses at least last. [00:16:00] Last I lived with her, which was many a year ago, but I remember her always having like plastic, like disposable razors. I don't know if she's ended up switching since.

Speaker: But I actually might ask her now because I'm curious about it. Yeah. But I'm like it's these things that happen and I'm like, it's gonna now send him into a, oh, he can't use certain products that aren't good for him and hopefully he switches kind of everything he's been doing. He already has to be pretty sustainable because we live together and so everything we get is like organic.

Is we, he. Had to get used to like, no paper towels and like these rags that I use. He does not, he literally does not shop unless I buy him clothes or like he's getting hand-me-downs from my brother or something. So I would argue he's much more sustainable than I am most of the time. But there was this recent, like as of this past two weeks, that I was like, I'm sorry that you have a skin or [00:17:00] a rash on your skin, but I told you 

Speaker 3: have you seen the movie yet?

Plastic Detox? 

Speaker: No, I have not. I'll add it to the list. 

Speaker 3: Just be forewarned. It's all about fertility. 

Speaker: Okay. 

Speaker 3: And plastics and fertility and it's nothing statistically valid. That's not the point. But it is something we've talked about in the store for a long time because there's another really good series not so pretty.

That's another excellent one. It's HBO plastic Detox is HBO is Netflix and not so pretty is a four-part series on HBO Max. 

Speaker: Okay. 

Speaker 3: And it also has one on fragrance and fertility. But it ties back to plastic. So the bottom line is really and you know this from the clothing aspect of it, but it applies throughout.

Anything petroleum based is just plain toxic. Yeah. It's just not good. Have you read the book to Die for DYE. Alden Wicker. 

Speaker: Oh, I do feel like, I don't think I've [00:18:00] read it, but I think I've talked about it before with someone who had suggested it. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. It's really good. But, a lot of this stuff is all very similar.

We actually had Alden come to the store at one point. We had a whole like, little book reading and stuff. 

Speaker: Oh no. 

Speaker 3: But it's the, so anything that's plastic is petrochemicals and to do things like dye them and make them flexible and soft and all the things you want them to do, whether it's a piece of fabric or a water bottle or a shampoo bottle, or a rug, or a uniform or, non-stick, coating on cans, like all that stuff. It's all really in the same category and it's got all these nasty chemicals and the more you get away from that and just get back to the natural products cotton, hemp wool. Silk, linen stone, et cetera. You're just, you're always safer. 

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. I think it's scary 'cause there's so many things that we don't even think about that like the receipts.

That's, yeah. The [00:19:00] perfect example of I didn't even think about that. Or even, like I remember seeing I got a package from like some sustainable company and that like stupid little bag that's like in every package ever that has like little, I dunno, it's supposed to keep it fresh and that it always like, warns you to nod.

It's 

Speaker 3: like a little silica bag. 

Speaker: Yeah. I saw, I got I received a sustainable product or something and it had a sustainable version of that packet and I was like, that is the most interesting thing to me. 'cause that's I never really thought about those silly little, I always just throw them out.

Because what else am I supposed to do with it? And then it was like, that is like actually a really good switch of a small thing that we can be doing, but we all experience these or like our tags on our clothing. Like those, these are small details, but they're like ones that we don't, might not necessarily think about.

And then when we do think about it, we're like, why not do it? There's always gonna be tags on your clothing. Yeah. You often receive those little packages in things [00:20:00] like why not make those small things a little bit more sustainable? And hopefully with enough small things and also enough major changes, we can make somewhere in the middle.

Speaker 3: Didn't you do a segment on being stressed by water bottles on an airplane? Yeah. Okay. There. So course did, because when you made the point at that time you said, imagine how many flights every day and how many water bottles are given out, which is just. Like, why can't we go to a model where on every plane ride you have to bring your own cup?

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: Not that hard. 

Speaker: It's like really? Or even, I'll say this example a lot because I used to work for a company that like worked with, more of the red carpet scene and movies and stuff like that. And I was at this great dinner we had and they, one of the like directors or something that was there had said that they made it so that every single person in on that production set had a re, they just bought a reusable water bottle for these people.

And then instead of buying [00:21:00] and wasting so much money, constantly buying more and more plastic water bottles, because you know what happens, you like open the cap, you drink it once, and then you set it down and all of a sudden you have no idea if it's your water bottle or not. So you go and pick up another one and then you're wasting money and you're wasting plastic.

And why not just save all that time and all that money and buy everyone on that set a reusable water bottle like it. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. 

Speaker: Usable water. I always have mine with me. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. That's awesome. We have I'm just looking at my kitchen cupboard. You can get stackable metal cups. The airlines could all use them.

They're gonna be a little bit heavier than plastic. They could wash them on the other end. They have a kitchen, the kitchen is prepping food. So wash the metal cups. 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: They give you a reusable blanket. That's not necessarily disposable. So they must have some way to deal with it.

And the impact would be huge. 

Speaker: Huge. Yeah. Literally I never wanted to go down a spiral again of water bottles on airplanes, but it [00:22:00] if you really just take a moment and think about it I was already thinking about plastic U use and plastic water bottles throughout the world. And then I was like, okay.

And then on top of that, we're given so many extra plastic water bottles throughout the day. And so there's just there's these changes that we could be making, or even as an individual carrying around like a little fork knife, spoon reusable thing like that takes away when you're out at a restaurant and you go and eat out or pick up food or whatever.

With friends, same with your reusable water bottle is it just these small things that are, when you think, when you don't really think about it and you just use the plastic fork and throw it away you could be doing like a more sustainable option and saving a lot of plastic. 

Speaker 3: Yeah.

And even if people, it's so hard in the food space, but a lot of people will be like what about compostable? And Okay, it's still resources. It's only compostable if you have a commercial compost facility, which almost no one has access to. It's just we don't need all that.

Yeah. We just [00:23:00] don't need all that. It's really sad that we've come to this place where everybody feels like they deserve that level of convenience. 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: We were just in Dublin and there's three coffee shops on every block and you just most people go there and actually sit and have a coffee.

It's just crazy. Yeah. 

And like you realize that if you're in a hurry and you just want that shot, get an espresso. 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: You don't really need the paper cup, which PS is lined in plastic and you're ingesting just millions of micro and nanoplastics. And you're creating waste. It's like there's just so many better ways to do it.

Speaker: Yeah, no, 

Speaker 3: and we've told ourselves, or so many people have told themselves they prefer the convenience, which is just crazy. 

Speaker: I know this is something I constantly have been talking about, but I think we have gotten too convenient. Like [00:24:00] why do we need it to be quite that convenient? What happened to walking down the street and getting something or meeting your neighbors or not, ordering something and having it come in a taxi by itself to your house.

Like there, yeah. We can, we don't need, it doesn't need to be quite so convenient. And in yeah, in my attempt to be a little less convenient, I found so many great local businesses that are near me and been able to more, support small businesses instead of going to I always use the example, but like I, my lovely boyfriend loves key lime pie and I usually get some like frozen version from I don't even know the grocery store or whatever.

And for his birthday or something, I think I looked up pies near me 'cause I wanted like a good fresh pie. And I found the most adorable bakery that was like literally so close to me and I had no idea it was there. And they have pies, they have bagels, they have [00:25:00] sandwiches, they have great coffee, like all these things.

And so now it's been like a local spot that I go to. And when my friends come into town, I take them there. And I just saw my friend the other day and she was like, I've been dreaming about that bagel that we got at that place. And I was like, this is, and I wouldn't have discovered it had I not just looked up like pies near me instead of just uber eating something.

Yeah. And I've done that with so many other things where it's like instead of going on Amazon and ordering something like that, I need tomorrow. I think another good example is there's like a party, a very small business, like super small business. You wouldn't even know that it's where it is. Had I not looked it up and I was like, I could order this online or I could go and see if there's a place nearby me and there's this great party place that has like party rentals too. So I don't even have to necessarily use something once and then throw it out. And now it's like my go-to place when like my friend has a birthday or something to just rent from there and get them fun things for the day.

And again, wouldn't have found it had, I just ordered something on Amazon. So we're getting too convenient. It doesn't need to be quite so [00:26:00] convenient. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. And I don't know, I guess we all try to do too much and it's just amazing to me. We get a lot of bags donated for repurposing. 'cause there's, in New Jersey we have a bag ban and you can't give out single use plastic bags.

So we have a lot of companies. So just think of any delivery service. They all give out a heavy duty reusable plastic bag. But they don't take 'em back. So we collect them and then we donate them to food pantries and just. People who want them. There's, we've had plenty of sources to donate, but it's still, you see so many come in because that's what people are doing, right?

They're buying, they're having their food delivered. They're not even going to the grocery store, farmer's market, et cetera. They're just having everything delivered, which sure it's convenient, but I don't know. I prefer to pick out my broccoli and, 

Speaker: yeah. Yeah. Exactly. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. 

Speaker: Crazy 

world. 

Speaker 3: We'll 

Speaker: say I am a customer and I would be if I wasn't in California.

And and I wanted to [00:27:00] come and refill something. How, can you walk us through how that process works? 

Speaker 3: Sure. It's really easy. We have over 3000 items and over a hundred refillables, which sounds like a small percentage, but it's actually a pretty good section of the store. So you can bring your own container.

So if you're getting like liquid laundry detergent. That old tide jug is fabulous. It does exactly what it's supposed to do. It pours nice, it's easy to hold, so you bring in your container. We do the refilling for you. 'cause we think it's just easier. It can get a little messy, a little complicated. And this way you can just peruse the store.

And so you tell us, I want that filled with unscented or scented or whatever you choose. And we weigh the container. Once the container's weighed, we fill it and then we weigh it again. So we're just measuring the weight of the fill. So you're only paying for what you buy, and it all gets, written down, popped in the register, and.

That's it. If you don't have a container, we sell containers. [00:28:00] We don't sell plastic, we sell glass or aluminum. Or you can take a free pasta jar or applesauce jar or whatever people donated. So it's really entirely up to you. You can buy a teeny weeny bit, a little bit. You can say, I only want a half a pound.

Most refill stores price things by the ounce. I don't, we don't do that. We price it by the pound. Oh, I don't have a container with me, but a pound is like a 16 ounce mason jar. It's it's a little bigger than a can of soda. We think that it's too hard to conceptualize how much, how many ounces you're getting.

It's confusing. And we like to warn people. If it's a really big container, we'll be like, oh, that's gonna be about eight pounds and it'll be X amount of money. Just so people have an idea. You can get a label for it. You can choose no label. It's really easy and you can get the tiniest amount.

There's no amount too small or too large. And yeah, you can get everything from laundry detergent, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste. We have some refillable makeup. We have refillable [00:29:00] body wash, hand soap, sunscreen, bug repellent counter cleaner glass cleaner floor cleaner enzyme cleaners.

We just got in oven cleaner, baking soda and ingredients, right? So you can get baking soda, citric acids, super washing soda. If you're somebody who wants to make your own detergent, will have the ingredients that go in it. 

Speaker: That is so amazing and I think so helpful. And I think the only thing that ever stops me from doing it is when I like, I guess in my mind I'm like, oh my God, I need to do like a big.

A big thing. I need to bring all my things and I need to refill it. And then you said no amount too small. And I'm like, you know what? Next time I run out of laundry detergent, I'm just gonna go down the street and refill the one thing. I don't need to bring like a billion containers and do a whole restock.

It can just be the one thing. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. We have some people come in just like a $5 refill like that's their whole purchase. And other people come in and spend [00:30:00] $400. Yeah. But the $400 people are people who get refills and a bunch of other things. 

Speaker: It's, 

Speaker 3: we don't really have any $400 refill alone.

Yeah, that'd be a lot. The idea is if you wanna try something, right? If you're used to using this one product, but you wanna try a different one, just get a small amount. 

Speaker: Yeah, 

Speaker 3: because you don't need to buy a ton. And we think it's great if you make your own laundry detergent, totally go for it.

But not everybody has the time, the energy. And so we wanna have, we wanna serve everybody. We wanna meet you where you are. 

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. I think that's so great and a very important kind of like lesson I had to learn when it came to sustainability and trying to get people to be more sustainable is meeting them where they're at.

Speaker 3: Yeah. 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: And you might find I have found, and this is a little bit of a sad thing to say we embrace all customers, like the whole everybody. But I've I've probably lost like just a couple of friends who [00:31:00] just could not even get their head around what we were doing. And would say things like, it's too expensive and yet drive. The biggest Mercedes on the planet. And you'd be like, okay, it's not too expensive, just plain up, you're gonna save money. Yeah. So that's another really important point that I will say the, I think one of the things that happens when you go down this journey is you keep making more changes and you save so much money, right?

If you bought all your clothes, brand new, you would spend more than what you're spending now. And now you get this beautiful mix of really fun vintage and thrifted. And you're gonna buy a couple of things that are new. They're gonna be more expensive 'cause they're sustainable. But overall you're spending less.

And then, like my daughter in her apartment in la, it's one new item. And it's 'cause her grandmother insisted on buying her a sofa. Everything else in there is used. Oh, 

Speaker: insane. 

Speaker 3: Like the amount of money you save is just crazy. 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: So there is no [00:32:00] scenario that makes this a more expensive lifestyle.

Speaker: Yeah. I think that is a great note because I think a lot of people, a big misconception about sustainability is that it's super expensive. And like you were saying, if I'm buying Yes, a new shirt from a sustainable company, then everyone in that supply chains can been paid correctly, is working in safe conditions, it's gonna be a higher quality fabric.

And it's gonna be something that I'm gonna invest in and keep for the rest of my life and hand down to my future children. And it's gonna, that cycle's gonna keep going. And so when it comes to that sustainable piece, I even still think that if you just change your mindset about it, it is. More, it is more cost efficient because instead of buying, $88 she and white t-shirts throughout the span of my life, I can buy $180 [00:33:00] white t-shirt that I've invested in and I'm gonna take care of.

And then you're like, cost per wear for the two items are just, it's gonna save you money in the end. But I understand that initial purchase might be more expensive, but the rest of the things that people can do in order to be sustainable or I just, the example of my paper towels is like, paper towels are so silly.

Like you buy them to throw them out. And I was looking around my house and I was like looking at all the things that I just buy to throw out and I, I switched all of them and then it's I don't have to make this. This repeat purchase of something that's only gonna go into the trash cause more waste and then lose me more money.

Or I could just buy the fricking reusable paper towels and use the rags that I've had my entire fricking life at this point and save money and be more sustainable. 

Speaker 3: So I did a calculation for 10 years. I calculated $30 a month, how much paper towel I would've used, and it was like $3,500, [00:34:00] $30 a month on paper towel, which isn't a crazy amount.

That's like buying like a big thing. 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: And depending how much you use, how many people are in your household, et cetera. But it's not a crazy amount. $3,500, what is that? That's a brand new sofa, a down payment on a car, A little vacation. That's like real money. 

Speaker: That's 

Speaker 3: just by not buying paper towel.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. It's, there's a. 

Speaker 3: And people question whether they can do that or not. And you're like, how could you not? 

Speaker: How could you not? There's a book that I feel like, oh God, what is the name of it? But it talks about a $7 coffee and it's don't, if you're, if you go without that $7 coffee every single day, which I don't know how much coffee costs where you are, but $7 is on a good day in Los Angeles.

Speaker 3: Really? So I don't know. 'cause I don't buy coffee. Like I just make my own. 

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. I don't even drink coffee. I'm a tea girly, but still I don't, me too. I don't really, I don't 

Speaker 3: really, I like a little, I like a coffee every now and then, but mostly a tea person. Yeah. 

Speaker: Yeah. I am a tea person and I very [00:35:00] rarely buy it out.

But I have a lot of friends that love. Coffee shops and going to a coffee shop. Yeah. But even still, they'll give you like a plastic cup or something like that instead of we're sitting there, why not just give me a mug. And it was something about if you stop buying that $7 coffee every single day, you can buy that more expensive thing, at the end of the week that you've been wanting.

I cannot remember the name of the book, but it's the same concept when you think about most things sustainability wise, where it's just if I stop buying these stupid paper towels that are literally I'm going to use once and throw out the whole purpose of them is to be disposed of, then I can save a lot of money in the long run.

What's a year without paper towels, like when you're using other rags now I feel really good about. All that money I've saved. Yeah. I was just doing like filing my coffee between coffee and paper towels. Yeah. I'm rich. You're, yeah, 

I'm not I [00:36:00] wish I love that. Separately, you are a co-chair of Beyond Plastic New Jersey.

Can you explain a bit about your role there and if there's only, if there's ever any overlap with the work that you do at Sustainable House? 

Speaker 3: There's always overlap. As a store we're trying to for us it's really not about making the most amount of money. And if you look at the website, you will find, again, varying prices.

But overall we get a lot of people that are, that will comment that we have very affordable prices. 'cause we're not trying to make the most amount of money and we can point to all kinds of things that other people sell at more expensive prices. We want people to make change. What we find is once you start making change, you become more of an advocate and you become more of an activist.

And first it starts with more changes. Then it starts maybe with you do a little segment at your kids' school to teach them about recycling, and then maybe you donate some money to Sierra Club and then all of a sudden you do a beach cleanup and and there it goes. So Beyond Plastics is a national organization run by [00:37:00] Judith Ang.

She's a former Obama EPA regional director. And the model is that there's like local branches everywhere. So we created the New Jersey branch, my friend Lois and I, and it's about educating, which we do basically, we don't have any. Funding, right? So we are like beyond Plastics National has money, but the locals don't have money.

So we do educating through Instagram and tabling events like where we'll go to beach cleanups, et cetera. We do policy change. So we're changing the laws in New Jersey and we just got skip the stuff passed. The stuff is, the plastic cutlery you would get. This is not plastic with a takeout. California happens to already have skipped the stuff passed.

So New Jersey is the third state to pass it. And that means when you go to a restaurant, they can't automatically give you the junk, the stuff, they can't give you the condiment packets of ketchup and [00:38:00] salt and whatnot. The plastic. Cutlery, the napkins, the straws, the chopsticks. Only if you ask for it.

So they can say, would you like it? And you say yes or no. But most of us bring the food home to eat it. We don't. Or we bring our own utensils. We don't need their plastic. If you need it, you ask for it. If you don't get it. So the amount that it saves restaurants is huge. And the amount of environmental savings, the only people who don't like it are the plastic producers.

So that was our biggest thing. And the other thing, I'll give you one more point. And by the way, in LA when you order food, they should be doing the same thing. They should be asking you if you want the cutlery, and they generally don't. And it's a lack of knowledge. And that means to make laws like this effective, we need lots of people, like all of us telling restaurants what the rules are and holding them to that.

Because as consumers we have a lot of power. So the store does a lot to educate, but we wanted to do more. And so by being able to change the [00:39:00] laws in our state, that just gives us huge potential. So that's what we're doing. And one of our new we have three other pieces of legislation in the works, one of which is like really cool.

It's don't quote me on the name of it because the name is a little confusing, but it's basically about reducing construction dust by containing it. So at a con, so the idea is that a construction site, you'd have to contain the dust. Why? Because it's plastic when they're cutting PVC and track stacking, and when that plastic gets cut and drilled and sanded, the little particles go everywhere and they're essentially.

A micro and nanoplastic and it gets into our water, soil, and air, and we can't get it out. So we're trying to pass legislation to get that contained. And the way you pass legislation is by going town, by town, getting them to pass it. And then when enough towns have it passed, then you can go to the governor and say, let's pass it at the state level.

And the lobbyists will fight you and you fight back. And then eventually you'll get it [00:40:00] passed and everybody comes to some kind of agreement, the name changes and all kinds of stuff happens, and it gets done. And then you have to worry about implementing it. So I think it's a huge compliment for the store to what we do.

And in fact, in a week I'm doing a presentation at another Zero waste store, a friend of mine, and I'm going on behalf of Beyond Plastics to talk about, plastics not to talk about the store. And so I think it's really, it really dovetails into what we do and, I think any place in the environmental space that you start, you can't stop.

So whether you're about clean oceans, thrifting, refilling, you just keep going on to the next thing and you become more of an advocate over time. 

Speaker: Yeah, completely. So besides the point, but I am a proud a MC subs list member, whatever it is now that I can't think of the name of it.

And I will always talk about it because in Los Angeles, probably not the most sustainable of things, but it makes me very happy. But in Los Angeles, a movie is like usually around like 20. $25. I don't know how much it is everywhere else. It's very expensive. I went to Florida to visit my parents and it was like $12 and I was like, okay, this is ridiculous.

And the pass itself was $25. And so it's okay, you go once, you go twice and 

Speaker 3: you can go every day. What the pass? 

Speaker: You can literally go four times a week, which like, 

Speaker 3: okay, 

Speaker: I'm not going four times a week. Yeah, great if you are. But ever since I have made that purchase, like I am right now, I talk about it all of the time.

I think it is one of the like best things I've ever paid money for because I work a nine to five usually, and then I, go to the gym and then it feels like all I've done that day is work. And going and seeing a fun little movie like really makes me happy. Yeah. Also, obviously I 100% think everyone should.

Go and attend local movie theaters and not necessarily all a MC, but that's something that, 

Speaker 2: yeah, 

Speaker: I will talk about all the time because I, pay the money for it. And that's the same thing when it comes to sustainability is like the second I wear an outfit that is thrifted, which is every single day of my life, all my closet is thrifted or secondhand or sustainable in some way, shape or form.

But I, someone will compliment it or something and I'll be like, oh my God, thank you. It's [00:41:00] thrifted I got it from. And then I tell a whole story, I'm like, oh my God, this necklace is from this small designer and this shirt I got at this store that you should totally check out if you're ever in the area.

And these shoes I got from here. And people like find that so interesting. And then they're like, oh, I'm gonna go check out that thrift store because you mentioned it. And I've literally made friends because of that. Like one of, I had a friend who's now a friend who. Was looking for like local vintage stores.

And she messaged me because she saw, I posted about that and I was like, oh my God, here go to these eight places. And now we hang out all the time and can, I can talk about sustainability in other ways, but I'm like you do, you become an act or an advocate or an activist for it the second you start doing these things.

And another example that I use all the time is my brother who has a million plants all over his house. 

Speaker 2: Yes. 

Speaker: He loves his plants. Those are like his babies. And I have two composters in my apartment and he came and visited me and he was really interested in the composters and I was like, yeah, I do this with it and then, I can turn it into nutrient rich soil for my plants.

And he loved that and found it really interesting and got a composter. Or something else that I have is while my shower is heating up, I have this thing that I've only gotten a few weeks ago, but I'm like obsessed with it. And it's the same thing as just like if you put like a bucket in your shower before it's warm but it's much more aesthetically pleasing and cute.

What's 

Speaker 3: it called? I need one. 

Speaker: It's called se sas. It's S-E-V-A-S. Okay. But it's only it's super cheap. It's $20, I think, 25 maybe. And it's cute. And I put it in my shower while the shower heats up and then I use that water to water my plants. And I was telling my brother that and I ordered him one.

And so it's I don't think he knows. I ordered him one, but I don't even know if he listens to my podcast. So if he does, this is a surprise for him. But it's those things where it's okay, maybe we couldn't agree on what milk to, to drink or something, but I became like an advocate because I had these I already was, but for meeting him where he's at and then just having these things around my house where people were then asking questions about it.

And I was like, here you go. And now he has those things and now he's told his girlfriend about it and his girlfriend's told her siblings about it. And it really is like that word of mouth. 

Speaker 3: So you wanna hear a big impact story. So 

Speaker: yeah. 

Speaker 3: Buy one thing of shampoo, the average pers it's all math, all girl math, right?

You buy one thing of shampoo, the average person uses 12 per year. If we all change somewhere in the half life, if we all live to 90 or a hundred, that means that's 40 or 50 years of change. 'cause we all change, [00:42:00] you might change it at, in your twenties, I might change in my sixties. It's all a different time.

So it's about a 40 year impact. 40 times 12 is about 500. You tell 10 friends that's 5,000 plastic bottles saved. But one day you all wake up and say, why am I buying my dish soap, my laundry detergent, my toothpaste, tablets, and you make three more changes and that is 15,000 bottles saved. And that's what influence does.

Yep. And it's the influence you have in, I always think of it in the, in your family hierarchy, right? Like somewhere in the generational chain. You might start as a young person, I might start as a grandparent and somewhere in between we influence up and down and all the people around us start making changes.

Our siblings, our friends, our parents, our and our kids and nephews and nieces and yeah. 

Speaker: Yeah. No, completely. My cousin, I was talking, I got really into sustainability and me and my cousin are very close, and [00:43:00] so she started, thrifting and doing these things because I was doing them and it influenced her.

And now she has two, about to be three kids, and like all of their toys are from Facebook marketplace. And, all of their clothes are thrifted and things like that are sustainable in some way. And so it's then her kids will just know that as a lifestyle and not necessarily need to make any changes because that's what they've just been doing.

And they can influence their friends and yeah it's really this ripple effect of, and hearing this and talking about it makes me feel so hopeful for our future. 

Speaker 2: Yeah. Because 

Speaker: sometimes I'll have these conversations and I'm like, oh God, I need a glass of wine. 

Speaker 2: Yeah, 

Speaker: it's 10 55 in the morning here in la and I'm like, oh God.

But this has, it, it just, it makes me very hopeful for our future and encouraging more people to make these swaps. 

Speaker 3: I do think [00:44:00] it's. Becoming more popular. It's slow, but I think we are gaining small momentum. 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: Which feels good. 

Speaker: It feels great. Yeah. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. 

Speaker: You have given so many great tips.

But I do always like to end my podcast on what are some top rapid fire tips for someone who's sorting their journey. So I don't know if you have maybe more. 

Speaker 3: Okay. So if you I'm just gonna go with live a good life. Look effing good doing it. So have fing good hair doing it. Switch to the Dip shampoo bar.

It's our number one selling product. You can buy it from your local fillery or you can get it online with us. It's an amazing brand salon quality. It's just awesome. I buy so $24 for the big shampoo bar you can buy The small ones, 32 for the conditioner. The shampoo lasts me eight months.

I shampoo twice a week. The conditioner lasts me two years. 

Speaker: Wow. 

Speaker 3: It's crazy. Just crazy. So that would be one rapid fire. And if I had to do other things, I'd say change your laundry detergent. 'cause your skin matters. Definitely [00:45:00] drink from a reusable water bottle. I've already said don't microwave popcorn.

Don't microwave anything plastic, by the way, nothing plastic in the microwave ever. Hands down, nothing more to talk about. Yeah, and for sure thrift clothing. My favorite dress is a pink dress that I still wear a lot, and it's from high school. 

Speaker: Oh, I love, 

Speaker 3: yeah. And I'm in my sixties. 

Speaker: Oh my gosh. I love.

Those are such amazing tips and just thank you so much for this amazing conversation. I have learned so much. And I hope our listeners did too. Where can people find you on social media or anywhere else? 

Speaker 3: So probably Instagram is our main place, which is Sustainable House, HAUS, sustainable, h aus dot whatever, Instagram Facebook.

That's our website, sustainable house.com. We're on TikTok, but we haven't really been using it much. So really? Instagram has 120,000 followers. Facebook is at 30 some thousand, so 

Speaker 4: yeah. 

Speaker: That is amazing. I love to hear that. I think that is [00:46:00] another great way, great platform of spreading this sustainable and getting this getting more people to be a part of this.

So thank you so much for all the amazing work that you do. And yeah, everyone go check them out on social and anywhere else. And that is the end of the podcast. Thank you so much. 

Speaker 3: Thanks, Lexi. It was 

Speaker: fun.

That's it for this week's episode of the Lexi Show Fashion. That gives a damn big thanks to Jeanette for showing us how sustainability doesn't have to be all or nothing. It can start with small, everyday choices that actually stick, whether it's fashion or everyday products.

This is how sustainability should work. If this conversation resonated with you, subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Leave a review and share this with someone who needs to hear it. Head to lexi silverstein.com for more content on sustainable style and conscious consumption. And follow me on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at Lexi Silver sign.

That's LEXY, silver like the color, S-T-E-I-N. Remember to live a good life and look fucking good doing it, and demand better from brands in your closet and everywhere else. See you next week.