FROM GAIA SOAP SUPPLY TO PLANET REFILLS: A REBRAND EMBRACING WELLNESS, PERSONAL CARE, AND SUSTAINABILITY
Life is the bubbles!
Which is why Planet Refills, formerly Gaia Soap Supply, is cleaning the slate with loofahs, butters, salts, and oils including a name change that Sarah Cuevas, the stores’ long-time manager turned owner, feels better defines their bulk and proprietary products.
“I meet customers all the time who say, ‘I’ve never been in here because I didn’t need soap.’ This rebrand is really about redefining our place in the community, and reintroducing ourselves to customers who could benefit from the products we offer. I want to invite makers, gift-givers, naturopaths, practitioners, healers, herbalists, and anyone concerned with the health of ourselves and our planet, to find the materials and inspiration they need in this store. We carry bulk soap, of course, and we believe in sustainability and reducing plastic waste, but we also carry the raw ingredients for body butters, body oils, tooth oil, and offer several locally made salves for everything from arthritis to eczema to an amazing face oil.”
In 2000 Sarah Cuevas, like so many Nevada County residents, fell in love with the Yuba River. While her 20’s were filled with trips to and from the area, it was the community that ultimately drew her in and made Nevada City home. “I began studying at the California College of Ayurveda, worked for the school for a number of years, and ultimately began my family here. I have two teenagers, a toddler, and a wonderful partner I met doing Aikido, a Japanese martial art, here at Grass Valley Aikikai. Nevada County is home, it’s where I raise my kids, it’s where I own my business, it’s where I’ve grown my love for the environment and natural medicine.”
There’s a unique utilitarianism to Sarah’s store, seen in the stash of donated containers ready to be “refilled;” in the beautiful cobalt and amber glass-bottle collection she offers aesthetically inclined apothecaries; in the wash station, which remains impressively tidy (and free of charge). There’s an atmosphere of creativity to her curation––from the raw walnut powder for exfoliation to the soap by the slice––that imbues personalization with every product. “Everything we offer must be cruelty free, biodegradable, gray water safe, safe for the environment, and preferably tracked by the Environmental Working Group (EWG),” says Sarah, “I’ve been an Ayurvedic practitioner for 17 years, so I’m a medicine person; I like natural remedies, and because of the essential oils in this shop, we’re able to whip up topical creams, oils, salves, and lotions for issues that range from psoriasis, to an antifungal foot cream, to an Ayurvedic Hair Growth Oil, and so much more––but the environmental piece is important for me. It’s the understanding that we have limited resources in this world, and that we have to be stewards for the Earth, because we only get this one.”
In 2010, Planet Refill’s founding owner, Lori Largent, whose original store name and acronym S.O.A.P stood for “Save Our Ailing Planet,” began with a mission to reduce plastic and create a more sustainable approach to buying the products we use most often. Sarah, a lifelong believer, took ownership nine years later, thanks to the help of a community who rallied behind her. “When the opportunity to purchase came up, I was excited. I knew I loved the shop, I’m passionate about it, and I believe in what we offer. But this place actually exists for the community, and because of the community, who donated $7,000 so that I was able to purchase the assets. A lot of customers have come in since, so grateful we’re still open, and I hope people continue to come in and refill instead of buying from new containers because that was really the goal all along, to reduce plastic waste, and I’d like to carry it on. It’s important in these times to protect and safeguard what we love most about living in Nevada County, to protect this beautiful environment we’ve all chosen to call home.”
106 Argall Way, Nevada City, CA
530-265-2210
