Cal Poly alums’ soap refill machines aim to cut plastic bottle waste. Here’s how
A Mr. Turtle soap refill machine at Cal Poly’s Poly Canyon Village Market on Monday, March 30, 2026. People can use the machines to refill dish soap, hand soap and laundry detergent using their own refillable containers. Image by Joan Lynch.
A Cal Poly alumni-founded company aimed at reducing plastic waste from everyday household cleaning items is growing in San Luis Obispo County and beyond.
Mr. Turtle, a company founded by alumni Michael Hennessy, Colin Brown and current graduate student Benjamin Arts, installs self-serve soap refill machines that aim to reduce single-use plastic waste.
The machines allow customers to fill up on dish soap, hand soap and laundry detergent using their own refillable containers, eliminating the need to buy a new plastic container.
According to a university news release, the idea first came up after one of the founders threw out an empty laundry detergent jug.
“It felt wasteful,” Arts said in the release, “especially knowing how often people repeat that same cycle.”
The idea was pitched at Cal Poly’s Startup Launch Weekend, and received support and assistance from the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Small Business Development Center and the Center’s Hatchery, the release said.
In 2025, the first on-campus machine was installed at Cal Poly’s Poly Canyon Village Market, in partnership with campus dining, the release said.
Since then, the company has installed 10 more machines across California, Nevada and Oregon, dispensing more than 3,000 ounces of cleaning liquids each week, the news release said. Five machines are located in SLO County — three in SLO, one in Morro Bay and one in Pismo Beach.
The company’s website showed one machine at the SLO Food Co-op, one at the Swish and Swirl Laundromat in SLO and another at Harbor Laundry in Morro Bay. The Pismo Beach location was not yet listed.
Two additional machines are located in Las Vegas, the release said, with single machines located in Silverton and Portland, Oregon, as well as San Francisco.
The company estimates that it eliminates around 20 pounds of plastic waste from entering landfills each week, the release said.
According to the release, Mr. Turtle is exploring further expansions into grocery stories, laundromats and other types of community spaces.
“Our goal is to make refill more accessible wherever people already shop and do their laundry,” Arts said in the release. “By making refill systems convenient and affordable, we can help significantly reduce single-use plastic waste at scale.”