Julia Plett is the owner of Milieu Market, a Winnipeg-based eco-friendly refillery and sustainable living shop. Founded out of Plett’s passion for environmental protection and low-waste living, Milieu Market offers customers an accessible alternative to single-use consumer culture. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their own containers to refill on personal care products and household cleansers, while also discovering innovative, thoughtfully sourced, sustainable goods.
What is your business called and what does it do?
Milieu Market is an eco-friendly shop and refillery. A place where you can bring in your own containers and bottles to fill up on personal care and household cleansers, and browse other sustainable items.
What made you want to do this work?
Before COVID, I was doing Van life and travelling all around the world as a landscape photographer, which brought me to so many incredible locations in nature that I wanted to help protect. Living in such a small space made me very aware of the trash I was producing, as there was nowhere to put it in my home. I started living a low-waste lifestyle, and when COVID hit, and I ended up moving home, I was frustrated with the lack of options to shop the way I liked, so I decided to start my own shop.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
Our demographic is eco-friendly-minded people who are maybe willing to work a little hard to skip the wasteful style of our typical capitalistic society. Most commonly, they are homeowners and women.
How does your business make money? How does it work?
Our demographic is eco-friendly-minded people who are maybe willing to work a little harder to skip the wasteful style of our typical capitalistic society. Most commonly, they are homeowners and women.
Where in the city can we find your profession?
Our Winnipeg shop is located at 992 Portage Ave on the edge of the Wolseley community but bonus we also have a shop in Steinbach, MB at 275 Main St.
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
Can you show me the real impact that shopping at a refinery like Milieu Market can have? When you shop with Milieu Market, the impact goes far beyond a single purchase. We design everything around repeat use, real reduction, and long-term change. Our refill systems and package-free options are built to replace dozens, sometimes hundreds, of single-use containers over time. The products we carry are concentrated, durable, and thoughtfully sourced, so you’re buying less often, using less per dose, and wasting less overall. Not to mention, by bringing a bottle you already finished up at home, Milieu Market is a space where you can instantly give it life again. We also curate intentionally. Every product earns its place by doing its job well, lasting longer, and fitting into a lower-waste routine that works in real Manitoba homes. When something costs more upfront, it’s because it delivers more uses, better performance, and a smaller footprint over time. Shopping with us isn’t about one “eco” swap. It’s about building a system that keeps waste out of your routine week after week. Small choices, repeated often, create the biggest impact, and that’s exactly what we help make possible.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
The best part of what we do is that we get to look at all the cool innovation that continues to happen within the sustainability world. We aren’t just always confronted with the depressing fact that climate change is happening, but actually seeing the incredible people and brands who are coming up with ways to solve these issues. The worst part of the job is dealing with all the soap spills. We clean up bubbles for days!
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
Probably, the people really like my jugs.
Where can we follow you?
We are @milieu.market on basically every social media, but we are most active on Instagram (it all cross-posts to Facebook) and TikTok. We visit our website and join our mailing list, which is on our home page.
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
There are so many small businesses I love, but we work very closely with naturally powerful and think everyone needs to try their incredible products!
