Our Story

This is a project started by two friends. Two friends with a common alignment, and desire to be part of the change we want to see in the world.

Originating from a growing disbelief and distaste towards what we do with our single use goods, products and overall lifestyle, we often discussed how we treat our waste and the lack of thought given to what happens after we put it into the bin (including what we are ‘told’ about our waste and recycling programs). With a multitude of perfectly good containers, glass and plastic ending up in landfill we thought, "surely we can reuse these for something and put them to better use ourselves.” We can’t unmake what has already been made, but we can do more with what we have.

Now. We’re big fans of (and purchase as best we can) products that are reusable or zero waste. That said, sometimes zero waste packaging is not easy to move to, and sometimes it’s not possible with the products we want to use. What is possible is turning the already good packaging we have into a more permanent fixture in our homes.

We know there are good people doing good things in this area already, but we still found there were some refill staples that we just couldn’t get our hands on, and zero waste solutions that just didn’t work well enough ... and so Have Your Fill was born.

We believe that buying local (to reduce ‘food miles’ and ensure that proceeds from the sale of products are spent back among our own community) is important. We believe that the way we change our world for the better is to vote with our dollar, thereby making ethical, sustainable, green and fair trading the only viable options for businesses. We believe the decentralization of big business and government and the focus back on becoming sustainable local communities (therefore reducing our reliance on the systems that run our lives and take from our pockets) is crucial for a better world for us all.

We believe in the permaculture way of life. And most of all, we believe in being the change we want to see in the world.

We love that you want to be that change too. Welcome! Let’s do our part so we can all have our fill.

WHAT we are building

A lifestyle of waste reduction by reusing items for multi-purposes that otherwise would get thrown into landfills.

We collect, re-purpose and up-cycle bulk commercial plastic containers, small plastic and glass jars, bottles and tubs as refill containers for many common eco-friendly household items and personal care products. If we end up purchasing items we otherwise cannot find to up-cycle we purchase from local op-shops and salvation centers because we share the same purpose.

WHERE we go

We mainly service within the Wellington Shire, Gippsland Victoria and surrounding areas. We can also come to your local community events (contact us for more details). We invite you to join our Telegram channel or our facebook page to link to our events and be kept up to date.

WHY we are doing this

There is a general rule of thumb in permaculture design that says, if an item is to be disposed of permanently, then only consider items that can be, or will be used at least 3 times over, for full use throughout its life cycle. Even then, still ensure that its final disposal gets recirculated back into the eco-system in natural non-destructive ways.

As a society we’ve already done harm by producing plastics and containers. We can’t ‘un-produce’ what we’ve already ‘produced’, but we can decide what we now do with it.

We can either:
  • use items once and recycle or throw them away, or
  • use items multiple times and recycle or throw them away, or
  • continue to use items multiple times and not throw them away

The concept of recycling has its heart in the right place, but is still missing a considerable thought component; it still extracts more energy and water resources to recycle any given item, and then more again to reproduce that same item to be purchased again (i.e. single use plastics). Many people overlook this component.

Rather than using even more energy and water to make even more items (albeit reusable) or 'recycling them' we are better off to encourage the philosophy of, "just stop making more! Simply reuse what we've already made".

Therefore instead of using more energy and water to create more containers (regardless of how eco-friendly, bio-degradable and compostable they are) just don’t make more. Reuse what has already been made, and give it another life.

We are not perfect, but (as it also is within our personal lives) we work to continually improve the way in which we impact the earth and our community at large. We promote connection back to self, to each other and to mother nature, and believe that cultivating consciousness around our interconnectedness and the impact our actions have, is how we can continue to improving ourselves, our wider community and our Earth.