Photo by Green Team Media courtesy of Eco MKE
Kayla Bouma - Eco MKE
Kayla Bouma demonstrates how to refill at Eco MKE.
Becoming a small business owner wasn’t originally in Kayla Bouma’s plans, but after the loss of zero-waste stores Glass Pantry and Greenlife Trading Co., she suddenly felt a calling. In April 2025, she and her partner Michael Stevenson launched Eco MKE: a refillery for home and body care essentials. Only one year later, what started as a mobile market pop-up is now a light-filled storefront on 2nd Street in Walker’s Point.
Much of Bouma’s sustainability journey has emerged in unexpected ways. “I didn’t really have much of a concept of sustainability before [college],” she says. As she studied sociology and the environment, she grew more aware of how over-consumptive lifestyle choices pushed by big corporations feed into environmental degradation. She later pursued her master’s in nutrition.
During her undergrad, Bouma started an Instagram page to track her journey with sustainability. It wasn’t intended to be more than a personal blog but got the attention of local environmentalists and eco-friendly businesses as she tested out (and sometimes debunked) green products and immersed herself in Milwaukee’s environmental activist community. Now, many of the products she used to review on social media line the shelves of Eco MKE’s permanent location.
What is a refillery anyway?
Photo by Green Team Media courtesy of Eco MKE
Eco MKE - interior
Eco MKE's new Walker's Point storefront.
Refilleries are low-waste storefronts offering bulk items such as home goods, soaps or kitchen staples. Rather than purchasing an umpteenth plastic dish soap bottle only to discard after one use, refilleries encourage shoppers to continuously restock into their own reusable containers. Aside from cutting down on plastic waste, this from-bulk model also allows consumers to buy exactly how much of a product one needs, rather than wasting money and packaging on a giant supply one might never use.
Eco MKE’s concept is similar to other refilleries across the country, but their execution is a little different. While most refilleries have their stock out on the floor in large jugs, Eco MKE does the refilling for you; all customers have to do is bring in a clean and dry container and select a product (plus an optional light essential oil fragrance) from a refill menu. Bouma encourages recycling jars and bottles from home, but plenty of nicer-looking dispensers stand at the ready for purchase, too.
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It’s easy to see Bouma’s passion for helping others, as her main goal with Eco MKE is to make sustainable lifestyle choices less intimidating. That’s one reason why they refill for customers— not having to worry about weighing can make the process less daunting, especially for first timers. For those ready to completely overhaul their home goods supply to refillable products, she is eager to help customers map out exactly what they need. However, for those who aren’t ready to go full refill-mode, other eco-friendly items beckon, like Swedish dishcloths and produce bags.
She’s also a realist and is happy that people of all different values shop at the refillery. “I’m not here to convince everyone to be 100% plastic free or buy things that are only natural ingredients all the time. I know that’s hard, and pretty unattainable a lot of the time.” Of course, she hopes that the shop inspires people and affirms that she wants to support people at all stages of their sustainability journey. “We try to encourage people to do things a little more slowly and with intention.”
Greenwashing
Bouma is staunchly against greenwashing: a marketing tactic that lulls consumers into a false sense of environmental friendliness, deceptively justifying a higher price in the process—think muted earth tones, kraft paper labels and vague claims like “planet safe” without any proof. She acknowledges that greenwashing puts the pressure on the consumer to do their resource, and that this can turn people away from buying sustainably. “It’s not an easy thing to navigate.”
Rather than relying on marketing claims or sustainability buzzwords, Bouma and Stevenson carefully evaluate every product before bringing it into the store. Their selection process is rooted in extensive research, with a focus on effectiveness, ethical production practices, and ingredient transparency. Bouma believes that every product on her shelves should meet the same standards she applies to products she uses in her own home.
“I spend a lot of time researching the brands we carry,” Bouma says. “I want to find products that truly work, are ethically made, and are transparent about their ingredients. If a company lists ‘fragrance’ on the label, I want to know exactly what that means. If they can’t provide more information, or give me a vague answer, it raises questions about whether the product is a good fit for our store.”
It Takes a Village
Eco MKE began as a pop-up booth at markets across the city, tabling at 30 markets in their first year. Bouma’s social media experience was of great use when promoting where the refill station would be and what products would be available to refill any given weekend. Consistently updating their pop-up calendar was remarkably effective in engaging customers, as was their personal local delivery of online orders.
But Bouma says the goal was always to open a permanent location, and it was clear that customers wanted one too. “The one question people would always ask at farmers markets was, ‘Where are you located? Where can I come and refill?’” She felt frustrated and disappointed, as if she were turning people away, though at the same time it was a great indicator of interest in her business.
Bouma expresses that Milwaukee’s small business community was crucial in helping them make the leap to a brick and mortar. “In general in Milwaukee, businesses and people really appreciate community. People are really there for [each other] here.” For some time, Lucy Czech of Indigo Plant Collective was a bridge for Bouma, vending a shelf of Eco MKE goods at her Walker’s Point storefront. It was a full circle moment when the space right next door to Indigo Plant Collective became available. Walker’s Point has also proven to be a great location for Bouma, especially thanks to the centrality of the neighborhood vis-a-vis the rest of the city.
She is glad to be in a position to give back to the small business community that has been so supportive of her and her partner. She’s especially happy to support fellow business owners who share her values of sustainability; Eco MKE is currently hosting a pop up with Sew Slow by Amanda Heun, a woman-owned business offering thoughtfully upcycled clothing and accessories.
Eco MKE’s Impact
Already, Bouma can see the positive local impact of her efforts. Besides environmental motivations, she notes that many of her customers support the idea of a circular economy. They see the value of supporting local businesses, keeping resources in the community rather than supporting large corporations owned by billionaires.
She is always looking for fun and creative ways to get community engaged with sustainability. This month, Eco MKE is participating in Plastic Free July. “I feel like it’s a month [we] forget to be eco-friendly, especially because of summer travel ... we consume and throw away a lot,” Bouma says. On theme with summer travel, customers can pick up a passport card at their storefront and collect stamps for completing different sustainability challenges. Collecting enough stamps puts customers in the running for discounts, swag giveaways and special raffle prizes.
Bouma is keen on collaborating with local environmental organizations, having worked previously with Plastic Free MKE. Sew Slow’s pop up is also inspiring Bouma to think more about sustainable fashion as a facet of lifestyle choices, and is curious about hosting community events like clothing swaps.
As for the future, Bouma is taking it slow, taking the time to focus on making it a welcoming and joyful space. “Let’s not make reducing waste look expensive and unattainable. Let’s make it fun!”
