Dolyn Kinney / The Mossy Log
FOR ME, AS A college student, “eco-friendly living” feels like an inaccessible goal. The mantra of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is often only achievable if you have the money and resources. Toiletry bottles are a common form of plastic waste in dorms. They are especially difficult as most are made of mixed plastics which cannot be recycled even if they are painstakingly cleaned out and dried.
Amelia Eichel BA ’20, is working to give more people the opportunity to reduce single-use plastic in a way that actually works. Eichel is a Lewis & Clark alumna who was doing research on the role of single-use plastic packaging in supply chains at the Bates Center when she came up with the idea for the refill technology which would later become the startup “Wonderfil,” a zero-waste refill station. It dispenses personal hygiene and household essentials such as shampoo, conditioner, soap and laundry detergent.
Wonderfil is now a growing company based in Santa Cruz and has stations on college campuses all across California. The new station in the LC mailroom marks a milestone as their first out-of-state station.
The Wonderfil station welcomes students and campus community members to bring their own reusable containers to refill the liquid and cream products. It is sold by the ounce and functions like a gas pump, so you only pay for exactly the amount you dispense.
On average, Wonderfil is able to save users up to 40% on products compared to standard retail prices. This is because they have no packaging costs, they do not mark up and their utilization of bulk distribution.
All the products offered by Wonderfil are from eco-friendly, high-quality brands. Dr. Bronner’s all purpose soap is fair trade and organic, and can be used as body wash, hand soap, dish soap and watered down for an all-purpose spray cleaner. It can also be used for camping as it is biodegradable. The station currently has two scents available for the Dr. Bronners soap, almond and peppermint.
The ECO laundry detergent is good for sensitive skin and works better in dorm laundry machines than the popular pods and sheets since it is a concentrated liquid, which means you only really need one ounce per load.
The shampoo is formulated by Wonderfil for all hair types and essentially an alternative for K18 and Ouai that costs 86% less. It is color safe for dyed hair and soothing on dandruff. Another large part of the Wonderfil mission is making it user friendly. It is available 24 hours a day even if the mailroom is closed, accessible by a swipe of your student ID. The interactive touchscreen on the station streamlines the process by providing easy use to all the information and instructions. There are two ways to pay for refills. The scanner accepts credit or debit cards, but it is highly encouraged that you get a Wonderfil pass for an additional 5% discount as there is no card processing fee. In order to do so, visit wonderfil.world, select the university program tab and LC, then complete a quick form to get the best plan.
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