LiteFoot: A Starland District shop focused on eco-friendly practices
Written by Ally Miller-Henson. Photo by Ally Miller-Henson.
In the heart of Starland District, a new shop has opened up called LiteFoot. Advertised as a “Refillery” by its owner Katie Rodgers-Hubbard, LiteFoot is dedicated to making a sustainable lifestyle more accessible.
“It has to be convenient for people to do it,” she said. “That’s kind of my mission, to make it easy as possible for people”.
About two years ago, Katie and her husband moved to Savannah from Germany, shocked to discover that eco-friendly products were not readily available here. Despite the target demographic being prominent in Savannah, she became aware that not many people knew how one individual can impact our planet.
“I grew up in the generation where we were taught reduce, reuse, recycle,” said Rodgers-Hubbard. “Recycling was the big thing. I slowly realized…what the general public thinks is recycling does not exist.”
Katie became dedicated to educating the community on ways we can be much kinder to Earth through the products we choose to consume.
She said, “It’s very easy to get stuck on ‘Well corporations aren’t doing this, the government isn’t doing this,’ but every day we make decisions that impact our planet.”
Rodgers-Hubbard believes that if she can change a whole community’s view on a carbon-neutral lifestyle, together, we can save the planet. She began providing the community with refillable cleaning products and household goods through her truck, “Hillary the Refillery.” Her goal at the time was to build a loyal consumer base, which is crucial for this type of store.
“This model is residual customer based,” she said. “People might just buy one thing once, but they always need hand soap, they always need dish soap.”
Now, with help of her devoted customers, she is opening the first LiteFoot store location on Bull Street. She plans to continue rounds with Hillary to continue building relationships within the community as the new store location grows.
Katie sources many products that she uses in her own everyday life, ensuring that her customers are getting quality products that can be vouched for. She picks her stock based on extensive research, considering everything from the micro-plastics a product can produce to the way a company packages its merchandise. Their table in the center features a wide variety of bulk refillable products for customers to fill up their own containers and pay by weight. Along the walls, Katie has outsourced local coffee and tea, incense and household goods. She even works with her community to create quality products, such as manufacturing non-paper towels with SCAD students who can sew, and fabric purchased at another local business, Starlandia. When asked what her favorite part of the new store is, she said she’s most excited about the coffee station.
“I love Perc coffee,” she said. “I buy it every week. Now I can have it without the bag!”
On March 4 at 6 p.m., the store will have its ribbon-cutting ceremony. Katie, however, is already moving on to the company’s next big step: “The LiteFoot Environmental Foundation.” She hopes to educate the community beyond retail, working with the local school system and SCAD students to create environmental-based education. The goal is one community bonded over care for the planet and awareness of their impact.
“[LiteFoot’s] success is every time someone comes in the door with bottles,” said Rodgers-Hubbard.
