Manassas Low Waste Store Fillagreen On Sustainability: 'Do It Imperfectly'

MANASSAS, VA — Beverly Hicks and her kids once did an experiment where they buried a piece of plastic in a pot. Every month, they would check it to see if anything changed.

"It does break down, but it breaks down into other smaller micro bits that now are in everything, right? We're finding it in everything, and we're eating it, and it's everywhere. And there's just only so much we can do," Hicks told Patch.

The effect of plastic waste and pollution is one driving factor for Fillagreen, a low waste and sustainable store that Beverly Hicks and her husband John Hicks opened in 2023. The store is located at 9029 Center Street in downtown Manassas and recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. The business also operates at the City of Manassas, Manassas Park and Haymarket farmers markets.

The couple opened Fillagreen after realizing there was no store like it in the local area. Fillagreen specializes in refillable products like soap, hypoallergenic laundry detergent and cleaning products as well as other low-waste home and personal care products. Customers are encouraged to bring their own container, but the store has containers available for those without one.

"The simplification of what we do is the best products for your home and your family as local as possible, simple, single use, plastic free," said Hicks. "You can bring your own containers clean and dry, any container including that plastic container, because we want to keep it out of the landfill and in circulation and refill it by the ounce or for individual products."

Hicks says changing to low waste shopping can be overwhelming. That's why she suggests swapping out one product for a more eco-friendly product rather than trying to give up everything at once. The Hicks family started changing habits first with reusable dryer balls, which was an easy change for them. They found it saved them money in the long run.

"Honestly, we need millions of people doing eco-friendly and sustainability imperfectly rather than perfect, because if you're trying to be perfect, you're actually going to pause in the middle and give up," said Hicks. "And so we tell everybody, do it imperfectly. Do it swap by swap, meaning pick something, use it up, and then pick a better product in exchange."

Some of Fillagreen's top sellers are the Dip shampoos and conditioner bars, which Hicks says works well on hair, lasts long and is environmentally friendly with its packaging. Another bestseller is shower steamers since Fillagreen is the only local store selling them without plastic packaging. Hicks says the shower steamers can retain their scents by placing them in containers.

One of the rewarding parts of the business for Hicks has been supporting small businesses and establishing connections with them.

"You know, I had Thai food with Kate and Jonathan from Dip, I drove up to Pennsylvania so I can meet the person who makes my shower steamers, and I go and personally pick up our body butter from the person who makes it in Chantilly," said Hicks.

On the customer side, she finds it rewarding when customers see that switches to an eco-friendly product can be easy.

Fillagreen offers pickup and in-store shopping Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Residents can receive delivery if they are within a 10-mile radius of the Manassas store — western Prince William County and small bordering parts of Fauquier and Fairfax counties. Customers can leave their containers outside and pay a small fee for delivery service.

Customers often come in apologetic for using things like single-use plastic, but Hicks understands that people will sometimes have single-use plastic in their lives.

"We're here and that it's okay. I think there's a lot of apology in this industry," said Hicks. "People come and be like, I'm sorry because they walked in with a plastic cup in their hands...just stop apologizing. We're all doing it imperfectly, and we're here to help you."

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