Buy Local (and Reusable and Affordable)

What does it mean to be a “good” shopper? How do you save the planet, and a dollar, and support a community—and get the things you need? Way of Being offers to streamline the process, with options. The low-waste shop focuses on sustainable alternatives to everyday essentials, with some personal care items as well.

“Things that you can get at Target—we have a sustainable version,” says co-owner Alex Gamboa Grand.

The idea started back in 2018 when Grand and Lindsay Smith found themselves wrapping up MBA programs and getting into conscious consumerism. “We felt like we don’t want to wait for someone else to solve these problems, we want to do it ourselves,” Grand says. “We also want to empower individuals to understand they have power in their everyday actions—how we brush our teeth, shave our legs, all that stuff adds up.”

By 2019, the two had opened Way of Being’s first iteration—initially called Good Intent—as a small shop within Lloyd Center. The rent was cheap ($300 a month for a section of an old Lady Foot Locker), but the foot traffic was low. Grand and Smith looked for the best eastside spot they could find, and landed on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, where it’s been open for just shy of five months.

The new shop is narrow—fresh wood floors and white walls, a sink in a sun-yellow cabinet to sample the goods from brands like Fat and the Moon and Nopalera. When it comes to stocking the shelves, Grand and Smith have a few approaches. First, they measure sustainability and waste—only plastic on nozzles and pumps, otherwise packaging materials are reusable (products have clear end-of-life directions on how to properly dispose of the parts). Then there’s the local factor: sourcing from vendors here in town and, as Grand notes, focusing on working primarily with BIPOC-, women-, and queer-owned vendors. “We want to use our dollar to help build wealth for historically marginalized groups,” Grand says. “We really want to use every lever we have as a business to do good, [and] empower our customers to think about all those things, too.”

If you choose to make your purchases online, the website allows you to shop by values, from how an item is sourced to price point, which could be bamboo toothbrushes ($8) or a Tushy classic bidet (on sale for $109). On the note of price: If you’re on a tight budget, Grand notes, some items may feel too expensive in the short term, but might benefit you in the long run. “We carry a stainless steel razor that’s $27; the refill blades are $4 for a pack of 10,” she says. “The razor itself might last you the rest of your life—you might be able to pass it down to your kids. That’s actually gonna be cheaper than buying a new plastic razor every month.”

If you’re looking for more information, the site also includes not just products, but informative reads, ranging from a 101 breakdown of climate change to recipes for DIY lotion bars and deodorant. Starting next month, Way of Being will host more educational events in store as well.

“You don’t have to do everything, but everyone can do something, and it doesn’t require you to buy from our store,” Grand says. “You can buy reusable utensils from Goodwill; it doesn’t have to be a bamboo set from us. There’s ways you can do it.”

Way of Being, 3418 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 626-523-4002, wayofbeing.co. Noon–6 pm Wednesday–Friday and Monday, 11 am–5 pm Saturday–Sunday.

What else you can do:

Read the labels

While there are a few places you can find the zero waste shop Mama & Hapa’s, let’s talk about the Southeast Stark Street location. It’s a slim thing, but within is a bounty of home and personal essentials in bulk at affordable prices, sans superfluous packaging. We’re talkin’ toothpaste tablets and shower steamers, sanitizers and shampoos. Used to reading the bottle? The bulk tubs include ingredient lists and dilution ratios to keep you informed. And those prices—pick up Argan oil for $2.72 a fluid ounce (for comparison, the clean beauty brand Acure sells 1-ounce bottles for $18.99 on its website). And if you don’t have a container, you can grab a recycled one, on the house. Multiple locations, mamahapa.com.

Buy veggies in bulk

We don’t always need a Trader Joe’s amount of zucchini wrapped in skin-tight cellophane clogging up the earth’s pores—that’s where The Realm Refillery comes in. The specialty grocery store offers nearly all edible goods in bulk. Get your Oregon grape root and skull cap, or your quinoa, some fresh produce—and don’t skip the hunks of Vtopian cashew cheese. And put these tasty goods into your own jar brought from home thanks to last year’s passing of Senate Bill 545, which changed Oregon Health Authority and state Department of Agriculture rules around personal containers used in restaurants and grocery stores. Two advocates for this change happen to be Realm Refillery owners Brittany Snipes and Ryan Knowles. 2310 NE Broadway, 503-954-1407, therealmrefillery.com.

Fill a Mason jar with shampoo

The address on Instagram and Apple Maps will lead you to believe there’s a storefront on Northeast Sandy Boulevard for Null Refillery. Don’t be tricked, this business lives inside a home on Northeast Alameda Street—but do your ordering online for pickup or delivery. Inspired by owner Antje Lanja Zuendel Gillard’s childhood summers spent in Germany, the homegrown operation aims to inspire folks to grab those Mason jars and totes and put them to good, reusable use. Get your soaps, your shampoos, your compostable sponges—you know the drill. 6937 NE Alameda St., 503-901-3843, nullrefillery.com.

Buy for others

A hair west of the I-205 overpass on Northeast Sandy Boulevard sits Simple Sundries. The space is small and the hours are lean (10 am–3 pm Saturday and Sunday), but there’s always online. The ethos of Sundries is, for those sick of the climate crisis, stop funding new single-use plastic. It has six-pack refillable samplers of household basics—shampoo, dish soap, house cleaner—along with the option to pay it forward with donations toward school pantries, Metropolitan Family Services’ hunger relief program, and WeShine Community Village at Parkrose, supporting the unhoused. There are membership options, too. 9041 NE Sandy Blvd., simplesundries.life.

See the rest of Willamette Week’s Good Citizen Guide Here!