Tessa Benziger opened Walking Lightly, a zero-waste, eco-conscious business in Ferndale in 2021 after years of researching, running a pop-up shop, and doing home deliveries.
When the building at 1031 Hilton Rd. in Ferndale became available, she made her sustainable passion a brick-and-mortar reality. She aims to help people make more planet-friendly choices by bringing their own containers to refill bath and body items, bulk dry goods, and other home essentials.
“Before the pandemic, I felt I could get most of my groceries without plastic. But I found my cart being filled at the end of each trip with non-recyclable plastic material and wrappers,” Benziger said. “At the time, I found a model of a refill shop in the UK, and there was one that had a ‘Here’s how we did it, and you can too‘ guide that pushed things into motion.”
Almost one million plastic bottles are purchased every minute across the globe. More than 90% of those plastics do not get recycled, which means they end up in landfills, burned, or in oceans and waterways.
Benziger and her small team say they are building a better, more sustainable model. Every one of Walking Lightly’s suppliers takes back the containers they ship in, and the store shelves are filled with locally-made products, reducing shipping emissions.
Walking Lightly also offers plastic-free, carbon-neutral shipping nationwide for those whose communities are without a local refillery. For hard-to-recycle items like pens, razors, toothbrushes, and other miscellaneous items, Walking Lightly has six programs (some free and some paid) that accept all brands.
But Benziger hopes to raise awareness that re-use is more effective than recycling.
“In the last several years, we’ve learned that recycling isn’t the golden ticket that we once thought it was, and overall, the recycling rate sits at about 9%,” Benziger said. “Even with plastics that can be recycled, they can’t be recycled infinitely. They can be recycled once or twice, but at the end of those couple of trips in the system, they will end up in the landfill or burned — neither of which are good options.”
In addition to providing alternatives to plastic waste, Walking Lightly has become a resource hub in the community, offering opportunities to connect and learn about sustainability.
Benziger and her team offer monthly workshops with local sustainability experts, makers, and craftspeople centered around recycling and refilling (like turning mugs into candles) and swap-and-shop events centered around specific items such as sneakers and sweaters.
The shop also partners with local nonprofits each month to build meaningful partnerships that educate the community about their work and donate a portion of sales proceeds to support it.
In addition to workshops and local partnerships, the shop provides terracycling — recycling for hard-to-recycle items — and composting for individuals and small businesses. While dropping off his compost at Walking Lightly, Royal Oak resident Frank Komola commented on the refillery’s impact on his household.
“I’ve always been very environmentally aware,” Komola says. “But there haven’t been many opportunities to buy the types of things that Tessa sells. And when you purchase from her shop, you’re supporting multiple local businesses and not contributing to the waste stream. It makes for a nice combination.”
For Benziger, living sustainably does not have to be perfect. In her store and household, she’s trying to eliminate as many single-use plastics as possible and become a partner in making lower-waste choices that work best for every family.
“Our real goal is to change the market,” Benziger says. “And I’ve seen how Walking Lightly has helped individuals on their journey to eliminate plastic waste from their homes. When I started this, I had to explain what it was. I couldn’t even get business insurance and was constantly told it wasn’t a real business. But now, people come in and comment that they’ve been searching for a store like this. Within four years, there’s been a huge shift of people seeking it rather than me educating people on what it is.”
Benziger says she’s also seen a shift towards the circular economy in big-box stores.
“When I started four years ago, there weren’t shampoo bars on the shelves at Target or bamboo toothbrushes at Rite Aid,” she says. “There were a lot of mail-in options, but there wasn’t anything accessible in our neighborhoods. Seeing these low-waste options on the shelves indicates a shift in the market. Companies see this as how people want to shop, and where they want to spend their money. So seeing the collective action from people’s decisions has been one of our biggest successes.”
Walking Lightly is open Tuesday through Sunday. Follow the store on Facebook or Instagram for more information, and check out their 2023 Gift Guide.
