We try out the L'Occitane Refill Fountain – and we'll be back. (And back again.)
In a world where we’re all surely trying to tread a little more lightly on the planet, refills are A Very Good Thing – they save massively on packaging and also the transportation of finished products.
So can we shout a little hoorah for L’Occitane, who have now installed their Refill Fountain concept in 60 boutiques across 27 countries, with the aim of saving one ton of plastic in the first year. As L’Occitane’s Adrien Geiger, Group Sustainability Officer, comments: ‘We are facing an environmental crisis, and companies need to do more than reduce their impact on the planet. They have a responsibility and a duty to find real, concrete solutions in order to generate value for our ecosystem.’
Last week, we trotted along to see the fountain in action and loved the whole experience. (We might also add that we also very much loved being in a store where we could smell and try things again, generally!) You either bring an empty bottle of a favourite product – which is cleverly sterilised in the machine before refilling (hygiene and safety are of course top priorities) – or you buy one of L’Occitane’s new Forever Bottles, which come in 250ml and 500ml sizes, and are made of long-lasting, lightweight and recyclable aluminium, decorated with botanical illustrations, and fill it with the product of your choice. (With each refill, you save a couple of quid, too, on buying the pre-packaged version.)
At the moment, the service is available for five iconic L’Occitane products – Almond Shower Oil, Shea Verbena Liquid Soap, Intensive Repair Shampoo (and matching Conditioner), and Classic Verbena Shower Gel, but the hope is to roll it out to include many more products. Meanwhile, this is an easy way for us all to become part of the circular economy.
Unquestionably, one of the best ways to reduce our impact on the environment is to use products up, to the very last drop. But when you’ve a favourite product, it is just so unbelievably satisfying to take it back and top it up again… And again!
Find the Refill Fountains at the flagship L’Occitane Regent Street store, Richmond, Glasgow and Cardiff – and watch this space for further locations.
And if you can’t get to a store with your own bottle…? Many other L’Occitane packaged refills are available online, below…