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Deidre Prozinski, the founder of the environment friendly company Blue Dot Refill, discusses her vision, franchising and the mixing of belief and business.  Great interview on Episode 045 of Owning Your Own!

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• Introductions and Updates
  
• Internet Interview – Deidre Prozinski, Founder of Blue Dot Refill
  
• Outro Song (Andrew) –  Sunlounger feat. Zara – Lost (Chill Out Mix)
  
  
  

Send questions, comments, suggestions or love to podcast@owningyourown.com

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• Today is the Vegan edition of our meat segment.  (1:24)
  
• Andrew discovered Blue Dot Refill when needing laundry detergent.  Walked by the store, which is now a rare discovery tool! (4:16)
  
• Blue Dot allows you to keep coming back to refill products that you normally would have to buy other containers full.  Detergent, hand soap, etc. (6:00)
  
• Deidre had some inspiration from the 70′s commercial featuring the native American with the tear in his eye when viewing the pollution. (Keep America Beautiful featuring “Iron Eyes” Cody)(6:45)
  
• She made her parents recycle. (7:30)
  
• Looked at own shower and saw 14 plastic bottles…she became disenheartened with society.  Moved to the Dakotas and “got off the grid” for a while. (9:20)
  
• Soap nuts; biodegradable laundry soap that comes natural. (10:50)
  
• She came across a friend who opened a store similar, along with her sister in Nevada City.  Inspiration to open a store came from this.  (12:10)
  
• Our grandparents and great-grandparents would have never thought to buy products in tiny plastic bottles. (13:00)
  
• Manufacturing got cheaper, which then allowed people to change the concept. (13:45)
  
• Culture of convenience. (14:15)
  
• Refill Revolution!  (14:30)
  
• We have to change our thinking; a paradigm shift.  You train yourself to adapt the behavior until it becomes habit. (16:00)
  
• How Deidre chose her product lines at first. (16:40)
  
• ANYTHING refillable is the goal. (17:10)
  
• Alan’s dad (Alan Benfield Bush) founded ABBA products which was one of the first to pioneer no animal testing and vegan ingredients in hair products to a national and international level. (18:40)
  
• Some companies actually found Blue Dot and Deidre. (21:00)
  
• Invited people to drop off their extra plastic and donate bottles to be used by consumers in the future. (23:00)
  
• The Bottle Count. (23:40)
  
• Vision for the future and franchise opportunities; stretching the store beyond Ocean Beach. (25:20)
  
• People have driven down from other communities to refill there.  Store should be as frequent as 7-11, Starbucks or laundromats. (26:00)
  
• Grassroots growth thus far but some additional marketing efforts.  (28:10)
  
• The growth in Ocean Beach is giving confidence to grow in other communities.  (30:00)
  
• A domain blue.refill?  The story behind the brand. (30:10)
  
• Pale blue dot by Carl Sagan; origin of the logo and branding. (32:10)
  
• Deidre got her logo for 20 bucks. (33:00)
  
• SEO lesson – Blue Dot Refill is at the forefront of search infancy that may catch on.  How Deidre can expand her brand now and the future. (34:10)
  
• What people can do now to adjust their behaviors to help the environment.  (38:15)
  
• Community thinking and mung bean exchange. (38:50)
  
• Could set up a Blue Dot in your garage. (40:00)
  
• Find the pockets of hippies. (41:00)
  
• Deidre was formally a lawyer.  The universe pushed her in a different direction. (42:50)
  
• 5th Dimension Hokey-Pokey and the Perverted Tango. (43:30)
  
• Support the Refill Revolution!!!
  
• Note to listeners, we changed songs per Deidre’s request; hence the dub-over.