Bettendorf Living: Every Little Change Makes a Difference

“The very first article I ever saw about ingredients and products was for baby powder,” Pisel said. “There’s talc in there. That can be cancer causing, long term. It was just alarming that a product geared towards babies has something that could harm them.”

In August of 2022, Pisel opened Zero Waste Reserve, a product refill and eco-friendly product shop, out of her home in Bettendorf. Customers can refill their household goods and purchase plastic-free, environmentally-friendly items with all-natural ingredients.

Kelsey and her husband, Kevin, and their children, 11-year-old Travis, 7-year-old Annie, and 2-year-old Freddy, enjoy taking hikes at Crow Creek Park and riding their bikes along the local bike path. Their children regularly play sports at the TBK Bank Sports Complex and explore the Family Museum. They love trying new restaurants like Verde.

The family lives, works, and plays in Bettendorf just as any other family, all while consciously making better choices for both their own health and environment. Kelsey felt compelled to help other people live as freely, happily, and responsibly as her own family has been able to—and thus, Zero Waste Reserve was born.

With the support of her husband and kids, Pisel’s personal passion for incorporating sustainable, all-natural products into her life has turned into an opportunity to encourage other Bettendorf residents to make decisions less harmful to their environment and their bodies. With growing community support and expanding product offerings, Pisel is on a mission to make the Quad-Cities a greener and safer place to live, and hopefully save a few lives in the process.

Close to Home

Kelsey has long held an interest in health and sustainability, but it wasn’t until she faced health issues within her family that she paid more attention to the ingredients in products she was using. Her oldest son developed Crohn’s disease.

“He was diagnosed when he was five. He was really sick for nearly six months. So we learned about the options for treating him and found out the longer that he’s on medication, the higher chances he’ll have to develop cancer,” Kelsey said.

The Pisels researched alternative treatment options and found they could treat their son’s illness through diet. This led them on a journey of learning about what they were putting both in and on their body. They began slowly switching out household items for those with natural ingredients.

“We’ll never pretend to be perfect. There’s things in our lives that are not eco-friendly. So we really just try to focus on the things that we can control and do better at,” Kelsey said.

“Chemicals from soaps, detergents, shampoos, conditioner…you wouldn’t know unless you had the wherewithal to look it up,” added Kevin.

A Broken System

From toxic chemical ingredients to plastic packaging in most of the products we use, Kelsey said many aren’t aware of the damage every day products are capable of inflicting on both our bodies and our environment.

“We just use what we grew up with our parents using,” she said. “If you look at a regular bottle of soap, there’s 30 ingredients in there. Why do we need that?”

Researching chemicals in in her household items uncovered a scary world. Ingredients used in common household cleaners contain hormone disruptors, which can cause an array of endocrine issues. Synthetic fragrances often include carcinogens. Toilet cleaner irritates the respiratory system.

Kelsey recommends downloading the Environmental Working Group’s Healthy Living app or the Think Dirty app, which grade products on their safety.

“It’s kind of alarming how low rated some of these products are,” she added. “I looked up a ‘green’ sunscreen that was rated a D.”

The plastic containers these products come in are unsafe for humans and the environment, as well. Plastics are not biodegradable, and billions of plastic products have piled up in our landfills.

“Plastic ends up breaking down into microplastics. These microplastics are currently in our blood streams. We, on average, eat a credit card of plastic every week just because of all these microplastics in the air and the ground water. They even found microplastics in Antarctica where people don't live,” Kelsey said.

Research is still ongoing on the exact effects of microplastics, but according to Healthline, initial studies point towards the particles causing irritation, toxic reactions, and potentially cancer throughout the body. With microplastics in the air and water, and leaching into our food and products through plastic packaging, these harmful substances are nearly impossible to avoid.

Quad-Cities residents already have access to an efficient and advanced recycling system. The Scott County Waste Commission accepts e-waste, or anything that contains a screen or a circuit board, which often end up in the landfills. Residents can purchase refurbished electronics from the commission or take home unused household materials like paint or other home improvement related items at no charge.

“If you have a mailbox post that you want to re-stain, you don’t have to go to the store and buy an entire new container. You can just go to the (Waste Commission) and get it for free,” Kevin said.

Kevin and Kelsey both grew up in the Quad-Cities, and the area’s progressive attitudes towards environmental care is a major component as to why they’ve chosen to raise their family here. With the area already moving in the right direction, Kelsey created her business to add another tool for area residents to live a more eco-friendly life.

A Grassroots Movement

Zero Waste Reserve isn’t Kelsey’s first foray into environmental advocacy.

Earlier this year, another refill shop inspired her to hold a shoe drive in Bettendorf with Soles4Souls. The organization collects shoes of all kinds that would otherwise be thrown away and donates them to communities in need around the world. Zappos pays for all of the shipping.

“Shoes have been sent to around 150 countries around the world. Women get to open businesses and make their money by selling our shoes, and they can support their kids and families,” Kelsey said.

She reached out to her network to ask for donations of shoes they no longer wear. She started with a goal of collecting 500 pairs of men’s, women’s, children’s, and even single or mismatched shoes.

She collected 820.

“There were shoes and shoes and shoes in the driveway,” Kevin said. “People were even bringing me shoes at work.”

The successful shoe drive showed Kelsey that she had the support of her community in her sustainability efforts. Motivated, she started her journey to opening her business with a tough schedule.

“I took a business class through the (United Kingdom) that started at 5 a.m. Then they had a time change that I didn’t catch on to for two days, and my class started at 4 a.m.,” she said. “Then I started to switch over my social media, and that’s how I started connecting with other refill shops and activists.”

Today, Zero Waste Reserve occupies the front room of the Pisel room. Customers can schedule appointments to come shop, or they can order online for pick up or delivery.

The store offers refills on a variety of household products like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, laundry soap, all-purpose cleaners, and more. Kelsey uses upcycled containers that used to contain a different product or glass containers to ensure there is no waste in the process.

“A lot of friends, neighbors, and customers bring me their empty bottles. If I make a delivery somewhere and they have any kind of container with a lid that closes tight, they can set them outside and I’ll take them and reuse them for other things,” she said.

She is also purchasing more and more eco-friendly, plastic-free products for her store every day. She carries soaps and bathbombs with all-natural ingredients, compostable and recyclable lunch bags, and even bamboo hairbrushes and toothbrushes.

“There’s billions of those in our landfill, and they may break down over hundreds of years but they never go away,” she said. “It’s really important to eliminate plastic where we can, and the bamboo brushes are just as effective as the plastic.”

All Hands on Deck

Because her business runs out of their home, the Pisel’s three children have learned more about sustainability than most children and enjoy helping in the store. Annie loves to help clean and package deliveries, and Travis helped Kevin put up shelving. They often find their youngest child’s toys in the store area, as well.

“They talk to their friends and teachers sometimes about sustainability. They’re talking about plastic in general and how we can all do better with certain things. We’re pretty proud of them,” Kelsey said.

“They’re becoming more aware through the shop’s purchases,” her husband added.

While the enterprise of Zero Waste Reserve belongs to Kelsey, Kevin plays a major role in supporting and encouraging her business.

“I’m just the supportive husband, and sometimes delivery man and a social media “share-er,” Kevin said.

Kelsey praised his contributions as much more influential.

“It wouldn’t even be a business without him. He encouraged me for all of those years,” she said. “He’s so helpful behind the scenes. He’s just smart and good with numbers. Even though it’s my business, I joke that he was at 23% but with the heavy lifting he’s been doing, he’s probably at more like 42% now.”

Small Steps, Big Changes

“It’s been fun to find out other people who are interested in this, especially people in our friend group that we didn’t know were interested in talking about this,” Kevin said.

The couple emphasized that any effort, no matter how big, is important in the process to fight man-made climate change. Begin with areas in your life where you can easily swap out plastic for reusable products.

“Start small. Don’t get overwhelmed. Don’t try to switch all your stuff out at once. Just do what you can,” Kelsey said. “Start by taking a reusable water bottle with you and filling it up, or taking your own lunch to avoid getting as many takeout containers.”

A mistake they often see people make is to get rid of all of the toxic, plastic products they use at once before they’ve finished using it. Those who want to incorporate more sustainable products into their lives should get all of the use they can out of what they already have to make sure it doesn’t go to waste.

“Being sustainable doesn’t mean getting rid of everything to have less toxic stuff. That’s the worst thing you can do. Still use up what you have and then slowly transition to something more eco-friendly,” Kelsey said.

Kelsey knew the Quad-Cities was missing a business that could provide eco-friendly products. Often, the journey to sustainability is hindered by access, but Zero Waste Reserve is filling that gap so every citizen knows they have the ability to make sustainable choices.

We don’t often hear good news when it comes to the environment lately. But this city has shown its on the right track to make a difference for our ecosystem.

“I don’t think it’s beneficial for anybody to just be so negative about it and say, ‘well, this doesn’t matter because the world’s going to end anyway,’” Kelsey said. “There’s things we can all do to help, and I think there’s a chance that everything will turn out just fine. Every little change you make is making a difference. You don’t need one person to do it perfectly, you need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”